Normal people
by In2lalaland
Summary: People have a lot of prejudices against those who are different, but that does not mean that those who are different don't have their own biases. It's a culture-crash-tragedy when Duo the popular basket player falls in love with the notorious goth Wufei,
1. Chapter 1

This is a present for one of my absolutely best friends for her birthday. It's thanks to her that I'm even here. She is the one that got my hocked on 2x5/5x2 and she is the one the suffered her way through my first attempts of fanfiction. Poor thing, my spelling is bad in my own language so you can imagine how much fun it was to read my version of English (especially since I didn't have a spell check on my computer).

I can't believe that I haven't dedicated any fictions to her before, because as she said, if it wasn't for her, I would still be reading 1x2 and be bored out of my mind.

Normal People Scare Me

Chapter 1

"Where the fuck is he?" Duo hissed to himself as he glared down the snow-covered street. He was so fucking tired of always having to wait for his brother. The guy just couldn't ever be there on time. Duo had tried to outsmart him by showing up twenty minutes later than planed but it didn't help all that much since he was still stuck there waiting like an idiot. He had tried to call him several times only to be met by Solo's unimaginative voice mail: "I'm not here right now, leave your name and number after the beep and I'll call you back."

Duo left only one message: "Where the fuck are you?!" before hanging up. That was almost half an hour ago. He loved his brother, he did, but he didn't trust him to ever be on time.

The worst part was that he didn't have a choice but to wait. He couldn't find his way back on his own because of the simple reason that he didn't know where he lived. He had only been to Solo's apartment a handful of times, once when Solo moved in, then two years later on his brother twenty-fifth birthday and then when he had moved in there, which was yesterday.

Solo had just dropped him off in town with an "I'm just going to swing by work. I'll pick you up at two." Duo should have known that he was going to be in trouble right then.

To make his lousy day even worse, it had started to snow. If there was one thing Duo hated, it was snow. He hadn't known before that he hated snow, but he found out that he did the day before, when he had stepped out of the plane right in the middle of a blizzard. According to Solo, it was just a really heavy snow fall, but Duo knew a snowstorm when he saw one. He had seen them on TV.

He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. He really missed his hair, since having hair down over his back really would have helped him keep the warmth. He has been without his braid for about a week now, but Duo still finds himself surprised every time he reaches back to take a hold of it only to find air. Solo had warned him that he was going to regret it, but he hadn't listened, never mind that his brother had done the same thing with his dreads just a few years ago.

But he had been so sick of always having people questioning his hair. He couldn't go anywhere without drawing attention to himself, and he didn't even know how many times someone from the other basket team had grabbed a hold of his braid while they were playing.

Cutting it hadn't been worth it. He missed it like mad, and he just knew that if his mother had still been alive then, she would have cried when she saw his short, modern hair style.

Duo shivered as some snow got blown into his face. So far, this town hasn't made a very good impression on him. There was snow, the neighbors were idiots, the school he was going to enlist in looked like a mental institute, and there was snow. Duo didn't want to live in here, but he didn't have much choice since this was where Solo lived, not to mention worked. He had been so happy when the court finally had agreed to let Solo have custody of him. Apparently, a college student wasn't seen as a very reliable guardian (drunken homophobes on the other hand were just fine), but now that Solo had his degree and had a reliable job, it was a whole different thing.

But why did it have to be so cold? To make things worse, he didn't have any winter clothes, and Solo didn't have the money to buy him any until he got paid. So he was therefore wrapped up in an old black coat of Solo's (too bad that Solo was a bit taller then him because he was practically dragging the thing on the ground) a palestina scarf wrapped around his neck and one of Solo's rock band beanies on his head. It might be warm, but why, god, why did it have to be a Green day beanie? Duo couldn't stand Green day, and if he got 'American idiot' spinning around in his head one more time he was gong to scream. His feet were freezing since Solo didn't have any winter boots in his size and walking around in ankle deep snow with sneakers was such a bad idea. This sucked. And where was Solo? 'Swing by work, my ass.' He thought as he pushed the beanie down further over his ears.

To get the heat up, he tried to jump up and down a couple of times. There weren't a lot of people out to see him, so he couldn't bring himself to care that he probably looked ridiculous. But suddenly, as he landed a little bit to the side, he slipped, and the world tumbled over as he fell backwards. For a second he couldn't decide what hurt more, his head, his ass or his pride.

Probably his ass.

"Hey, are you okay?" A voice asked from above him.

Duo looked to the side and looked straight up at what could only be an angel. A Gothic angel.

A beautiful Chinese boy dressed in all black about his own age was looking down at him with worried dark eyes. Spiked black hair with red highlights framed the beautiful face, and his eyes looked impossibly dark. Or maybe it was just the thick layer of eyeliner that framed his eyes that gave them that impression. What ever it was, it made Duo fall head over heals in love with him.

"Ye- yeah. I'm fine." Duo flinched when he heard the stutter in his own voice. 'Oh no, not now' he thought desperately. His stutter always showed up when he least wanted it, like when he was nervous or scared. This made talking to pretty boys more or less impossible at times.

"Are you sure? You went down kind of hard." The angel questioned.

Duo nodded his acing head slightly from where he was lying. "I'mmm fi- fine," was all he could get out since all his attention had been caught by the small, red, metal ring piercing the other boy's lip. The same ring that was being sucked in and out of that inviting mouth.

"Well you're not going to be if you plan on lying there for long. Come on, do you think you can get up?" The dark boy asked and held his hand out to him.

'If I get to hold your hand I just might be able to fly.' The braided boy thought as he took a hold of the other boy's hand with reverence.

"Are you feeling okay? You look a bit out of it. Maybe you should sit down." The angel suggested and put his arm under his to hold him up. Duo was very grateful since he suddenly felt a bit weak in the knees.

"I'mm, fi- fine. Th- th- thanks." He said at the same time as he cursed his own words since it made the angel let go of him.

The boy took a step back and put his hands in his coat pockets. "Do you have someone you could call to pick you up or something?" Worried eyes looked up at him, and Duo did feel light-headed but he was pretty sure that it had nothing to do with his fall.

"Mmmy, my br- br- br-." Duo sighed in frustration, and he could feel his cheeks growing warm in embarrassment.

The boy smiled. "It's okay, take your time."

Taking a deep breath, Duo tried again. "Mmy br- broth- er is co- com- coming." Duo managed to get out as he forced himself not stare at the beautiful boy.

"That's good. Maybe you should-" He got cut off by the sound of someone getting slaughtered by a chainsaw. The angel fished his cellphone out of his long black leather coat and cut the painful screams off with his thumb.

"Yeah... I'm one my way... I am! I'm just down the street...shut up! Like you're any better." The angel held a hand over the mouth piece and turned to him. "Sorry, I've got to go. I hope you feel better soon, and maybe I'll see you around so-" He cut himself off as he grimaced and held the phone away from his ear. "I'm coming! God, you're such a bitch...yeah, well fuck you... I'd like to see you try you freak." With a small smile directed towards Duo, the dark haired boy walked away while yelling into the phone. Duo was still staring after him when Solo drove up to him, full of excuses.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The chapters are going to be pretty short but I'm going to be updating a lot more regular then I usually do. The goal is to be done by her birthday.

Many thanks to Galeaya who is beta reading this for me.

Now pleeeeeeeease, tell me what you though about it. -puppy eyes- Please?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 (Monday, three weeks later)

"Shut up, you fucking morning loving bastard." Wufei groaned from under his covers as the sound of a creaking hamster wheel woke him up. The hamster paid him no mind as she kept running.

The teen whimpered and wondered if she would stop if he throws his pillow at the cage. Probably, but only for a few minutes, and then she would get all pissy for days. No one holds a grudge like a hamster.

"Albert," he whined. "Please, stop! I wanna sleeeeeep."

The hamster kept running.

"It's the first day of school, you sadistic bastard. Let me sleep away at least some part of this fucking day!"

The hamster kept running, totally unconcerned that it was half past five in the morning.

Wufei groaned and dragged himself out the bed, heading towards the shower.

At least there was one good thing about being woken up so early. He didn't have to fight anyone for the bathroom. Stumbling in to the dark room, he flinched as he switched on the lights. "It's too fucking early," he mumbled as he stripped off his clothes, leaving them on the bathroom rug. Careful not to put his feet down on the cold floor, he jumped in to the shower, barely missing hitting his shoulder on the glass door on the way in. Turning on the water, he waited for a few seconds to make sure that the water was warm before steeping into the spray, happily sighing. He really took his time to wash up; after that wake up call, not to mention that it was the first day of school after Christmas, he felt that he deserved it. Slightly more awake, he made his way back to his room with a towel around his waist.

He threw his towel over the back of his computer chair before making his way to the closet. This was usually the part of his morning that took the longest time. He supposed that the down side of having the amount of clothes that he had was that there was quite a bit to choose among.

After a long while, he took out a pair of baggy, black bondage pants that he steeped into and put on a heavy studded belt. For a second he thought about putting on a tighter pair of pants, something that showed of his ass.

The Asian shook his head. He didn't really feel all that hot today, and he didn't have the inspiration to dress sexy. Instead, he pulled on a simple black shirt that he buttoned up all the way and crowned it with a purple tie with screaming skulls on it. The knot gave him a bit of trouble, and he swore softly to himself. "I'll let mom do it," he mumbled tiredly and reached for his make up bag... that wasn't standing on the shell where he always leaves it. A quick look around told him that it wasn't located anywhere in the room. Groaning, he made his way to the only likely suspect.

"Meilan! Where is my makeup?!" He shouted and kicked the bedroom door next to his.

"I don't have your fucking make up!" His older sister shouted back.

He kicked the door again, ignoring the pain in his toes. "Yes you do, I know you do!"

"Fuck off!"

"It's not in my room, so I know you have it!"

"Then you lost it, I haven't touched it!"

"Yes, you have. Knowing you, it's standing on your desk! Now, open the door, or I'll pick the lock again!"

Another mumbled 'fuck off' was heard before the door rattled and the sight of his sleep rumbled sister was seen. She glared down at him and didn't say anything as she threw the black bag at him before stepping back to slam the door.

"Thank you!" He shouted sarcastically.

"Bitch." Was the muffled response from the other side of the door.

Walking in to the bathroom, he opened the bag to make sure that it was all there. He was missing a foundation, but it was old and almost empty, so he couldn't find the will to care. Turning to the mirror, he carefully started applying the mascara to his eyelashes. After that, he set out to paint the heavy eyeliner around his eyes that had more or less become his trademark. He grumbled in annoyance as the pen nib broke, and he had to stop to sharpen it. When he finally was done he took a second to make sure that the lines were straight before starting on his hair. With practiced moves, his hair soon became stiff with spray and gel – all to get it to stand up just right with the right amount of hair hanging down over his left eye. Turning his head from side to side, he inspected his creation. He thought about doing something more, something out of the ordinary – or at least use the foundation or the powder, but he didn't feel like it. The first day of school just killed all his inspiration.

Carefully washing his hands, he opened the small jewelry box where he stored his piercings. Looking through his, in his own opinion, generous selection of rings, barbells and studs, he chose a thick purple ring to exchange with the thinner silver ring that he had in the middle of his lower lip. Taking a step back, he looked at the whole picture. Yes, that would work; it matched his tie perfectly. He only had two purple studs that he put in his lobs, while he let the four black rings lining the shell of his right ear stay. He exchanged the silver ring on top of his left ear for one in black before he decided that he was ready. Taking one last look in the mirror, he made sure that everything looked good before leaving the bathroom.

"Morning," he mumbled when he came down the stairs.

"Good morning, sweetheart," his mother responded without taking her eyes off the newspaper.

"Mom, I need help," he said and gesticulated to his tie when she looked up.

She motioned for him to come over before untying it and retying it in fast confident movements.

"Morning, looking forward to today?" His father asked in a teasing voice when he walked in, his hands tying a far less colorful tie around his own neck.

"Yes, I can't wait to learn completely useless things and be surrounded by idiots." Wufei said with a straight face.

His father just snickered as he walked over to the counter to pour himself a cup of coffee.

"I'm sure it will be just fine," his mother said with a large comforting smile.

Both Wufei and his father gave her a look of doubt.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"Hey Q," Duo greeted his new friend as he showed up at the street corner where they had decided to meet. Duo was more then a little grateful that he had managed to make some friends before the first day of school. It would have been a nightmare to start in the middle of the year without knowing anyone there.

He had met Quatre in a sportswear store when Solo finally had given him some money to buy clothes. They started talking, and Quatre showed him around town to where all the good stores were. Then when Quatre found out that he was a basket player, he introduced him to a couple of his friends who were on the basket team at his future school. So before he knew it, he already had befriended quite a few people and wouldn't have to show up all alone at the new school.

Quatre smiled and lifted his back pack from where he had put it down. He was letting it rest on his foot in order to avoid getting snow on it. "Hey, ready for the first day?"

Duo shrugged. "Ready as anyone ever is on the first day."

"True." They started walking down the snow covered street towards the school.

The blond cleared this throat. "I'm going to ask something that you might not want to answer," Quatre said awkwardly.

Duo lifted an eyebrow. "I'm getting a warning? Cool, go for it."

"You're gay, right?"

The taller boy gave his new friend a long look. "...What makes you think that?"

"Other than the fact that you didn't deny it forcefully? You don't look at anyone in the shower after practice."

Duo laughed awkwardly. "And this makes me gay?"

Quatre nodded. "You kind of took it to the extreme. So yeah."

Duo looked around them to make sure that no one was listening. "Are we going to have a problem with this?" He asked.

Quatre snorted loudly. "Not likely. I just wanted to be sure." They continued to walk down the street.

"Do the others know?" He asked a bit worried.

"I don't think so, but they can be a bit dense." The blond said with a slightly twisted smile.

Duo hesitated. "You think it's safe to tell them?"

"Some of them, yeah. Heero would be cool about it. I don't know for sure about Tim, but he might be fine with it. Brian and Simon are out of the question though. They are pretty homophobic."

"Simon is a homophobe? That's really not the impression I got of him."

Quatre shrugged. "I think it's one of those like-father-like-son things. Apparently his father is a -big- racist and homophobe. Simon got over the racist thing long ago, but the gays are still on his shit list."

"Right, I'll just stay in the closet then."

The blond nodded. "It might be the best for now."

They soon arrived at the large concrete building, and Quatre had given him a quick tour before he left to find the music teacher. Duo convinced him that he was fine and wouldn't have any problems finding his first class even if he didn't run in to any of the other guys.

To entertain himself and to not look like a total loser just standing around all alone, he took a walk around the area around his locker. He tried to memorize where all the stairs and the closest bathrooms were.

A door opened in the corner of his eye, and he automatically glanced at it. What he saw made his breath catch in this throat, and a tight, nervous feeling spread in his stomach.

It was that boy. The nice Chinese goth that had helped him up when he slipped. It was almost three weeks ago, but Duo hadn't spent a day without thinking about him.

Before he could talk himself out of it or become even more nervous, he walked up to the beautiful boy. He was just about to open his mouth to say hello when the darkly dressed boy looked up at him with a glare.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" He asked as he stopped right in front of him.

Duo just gaped.

The shorter boy snorted and shouldered his way past him. "Fucking idiot."

Duo turned and watched the goth walk away as he wondered what the hell had just happened.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Now please tell me what you thought about the chapter. Please?

-Holds out Albert who's looking at you with dark hamster eyes-

You don't want to make Albert sad, do you?

-Holds Albert closer to you face-

Do you?

-Albert blinks-

Do you?

-Albert whimpers heartbreakingly-


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 (Monday)

Wufei threw himself down on the chair next to his best friend. The short skinny girl who could make even him look tall was staring with great concentration at her own breasts. She was wearing a very revealing corset that made it seam like her C-cup breasts were going to fall out at any second. Wufei was pretty sure that that was the reason she loved her corsets so much, especially since it made all the male teachers uncomfortable. Together with the short frilly skirt, the messy hair, the pink striped pantyhose and the ever present 'Hello Kitty' backpack, she made quite the picture.

"We have a new guy." He informed her as he dropped his books down on the desk in front of him.

She looked up from where she had been picking silver glitter out off her cleavage. Her new glitter hairspray apparently didn't work as well as the last one, and the silver flakes kept falling down like sparkling dandruff. "Hot?" She asked before reaching out to spread her small pile of glitter over Wufei's hair.

Wufei brushed some flakes away from his nose. "Not really, just another jock."

"Pity." Tiddy went back to digging in her cleavage, and Wufei gave her big breasts a look of total disinterest. "Yeah, you should have seen they way he was looking at me. I felt like I was one and a half freak show. I don't know what his problem is, but I hope he's not going to take it out on me."

"He was probably wondering if there were a girl under all that makeup." A voice said from behind him.

Wufei tilted his head to the side and looked at the new comer. "Fuck you, Trowa. Not that you are one to talk, clown boy."

The tall emo didn't even blink from inside the black hood he had on. "Well, I get paid to wear it; what's your excuse panda boy?"

Wufei grinned. "Because I look fucking hot in it."

Trowa snorted as he sat down by the desk behind him. "If you say so. So, what's this about a new guy?" He said as he flipped the hood back, sending flakes of snow flying before unzipping the black hoody, revealing a striped red and black sweater underneath.

Wufei shrugged. "Just some new jock guy, I don't know. I just shouldered my way past him; I didn't stop to ask him his life story."

Trowa's lips twitched. "And Wufei makes another friend."

"He was staring at me like I was a three-headed goat. I wasn't going to play nice with someone like that now was I?"

Trowa pulled the long sleeves of his sweater up over his hands before he leaned his head on them. "I'm just saying that you don't need any more enemies."

Wufei rolled his eyes.

Trowa hesitated but continued, "You should probably tone it down a bit before they beat you up again. Not even you have enough make up to cover up all the bruises you got the last time."

Wufei sneered. "I shouldn't have to tone it down, and I'm not going to. I'm sure as hell not going to change just to fit in to their standards. Especially since that standard wants everyone to look the same, think the same and act the same. It's like they don't have their own identity, they just copy everyone else and I refuse to do that. They can just go fuck themselves."

"Amen, tell him sister." Tiddy cheered while Trowa just sighed.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Quatre gave him a long look as he opened his locker to change books for the next lesson. "What's up with you? You have been quiet for hours."

"It's nothing." Duo answered just a little bit too quickly, and Quatre gave him a skeptical look.

Duo hung his head. "I just might have a small crush on this guy." He mumbled quietly.

Suddenly looking a lot more interested, Quatre smiled. "Who? Come on, Duo, you can tell me."

Duo fidgeted for a second. He didn't really want to tell him, the whole thing was embarrassing enough without having someone else know about it, but at the same time... he did want someone to talk to. "You see that darkly-dressed Chinese guy? Over by the lockers there?" He mumbled without taking his eyes off his hands.

Quatre casually turned around to look down the corridor only to feel his mouth fall open when he saw just who had captured his friend's attention. "Oh, him."

"You know him." Duo asked in awe.

Quatre shook his head as he turned back to his locker. "I wouldn't say that. I know -OF- him."

The happiness in Duo's eyes didn't dim for a second. "Well, what's his name?"

"Chang, Wufei Chang. We have a few classes with him, and he's been in the school band with me for like three years now, but I have never talked to him. I have heard a lot about him, though."

Duo opened his mouth but closed it again as a group of chatting girls walked past them. Waiting until they were out of hearing range, Duo turned back to the matter at hand. "Like what?"

Quatre threw a look over at the group of dark teens, as if to see if any of them had decided to sneak up on them. The blond lowered his voice almost down to a whisper. "Like that he's in this weird Satanist cult where they sacrifice animals and drink each others blood."

Duo gave this new information a skeptical look, but the blond continued. "I'm serious, they have these weird rituals out at the graveyard where they light up fires and cut up cats and stuff. Chang is like their high priest or something, I don't know. The guy is fucking nuts; I'm talking really off the chart. Probably because of all the drugs he's taking. Apparently they really mess with his head, so much that he goes around and beats up people for no reason. He almost got expelled last year after a fight in the music room."

Duo's eyes boggled. "Are you serious? There is no way all that is that true."

Quatre shrugged. "I'm just telling you what I heard. The guy's as mad as a dog." Quatre sighed. "You really couldn't have gone for a more difficult guy... Okay maybe not, since he's gay... according to the rumors."

Duo peeked over towards the short Chinese, who for the moment was hiding behind a tall muscular rocker. He was trying to escape from the threat of being tickled by an even shorter girl with bushy hair. "Right, so he is a gay Satanist who drinks blood, does drugs and beats up people for fun."

"Well I don't know what's true or not, but Kevin, you know Kevin, the one with the locker next to me. Well, he works at 'Richfield's' - that's on the other side of the street to this pet store - and every week he sees Chang go in to the store like clockwork. And every time when he comes out, not only does that black bag of his look full, but it moves."

Duo blinked. "Moves?"

"Yeah, like there is something alive in there."

"Maybe he just got a pet."

Quatre shook his head. "Believe me, Chang is not the kind of person that keeps animals. Not live animals anyway. Personally I think that he's the one who buys all the animals they kill."

"Maybe he has a snake to feed or something."

Quatre gave him a long look. "Who knows. But I know that you will be better off if you don't approach him." The blond lowered his voice again. "Don't be surprised if you see him take drugs. He doesn't even try to hide it. He can just pop one right in the middle of the hallway at any time."

"If so, then why hasn't he gotten caught for it?"

His friend shrugged. "Maybe people are too scared to turn him in or something. From what I've heard, he has really rich parents who would sue the school if they even try to stop him from doing anything he wants."

"Oh. I thought he was really nice... the first time I met him anyway."

"If you say so." Quatre said, sounding more then a little unconvinced. "But what I want to know is how the hell you managed to even be at the same place as him."

Duo pulled the hair in the back of his neck. "Well, it was kind of stupid, but I slipped and fell on the sidewalk, and he helped me up."

"And just like that you had a crush on him." Quatre gave him a skeptical look.

"He was really sweet and thoughtful. He didn't seem to care that I sounded like a complete retard. Not to mention that he is absolutely-" He cut himself off again as a group of people passed them before continuing. "-beautiful, with eyes that you just want to drown in. And you should see it when he smiles as you." He sighed happily.

Quarte rolled his eyes. "So are you going to talk to him?"

Duo fidgeted. "I tried, but he didn't really seem interested in talking to me right then. I should try again... soon. I just don't know what to say. 'Hi, remember me? You helped me up when I fell on my ass in the snow, and I've fallen madly in love with you without knowing a thing about you."

"Ehm, cut out the part about -madly in love- then you're ready to go." The blond said and patted him on the back.

"Right... Oh god, I'm going to start stuttering." Duo groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"You have a stutter?" Quatre asked in surprise.

"Yeah... not so much now days, since I went to a speech therapist… my brain just works faster then my mouth, so it all kind of goes to hell when I'm really nervous or emotional... like I'm going to be when I'm standing in front of him. Shit, I can't do this Q. What should I do? What should I say?"

Quatre couldn't help but laugh at his normally so confident friend who was looking so nervous at the thought of talking to his crush. "How about, 'Hi, I'm Duo.' That should work."

"Q! Stop laughing. This is not funny."

"It's just so out of character to see you this stressed out."

"Yeah, well, this is serious. He already dislikes me and I haven't even done anything. I might just have one chance to get it right." He sent a longing look towards the darkly-dressed teen who was walking away further down the hall.

"Well, if he already dislikes you then it can't get much worse, right?" Quatre said in a totally unhelpful way.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N

I love giving Wufei female friends, I just love it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 (Tuesday)

"That's him." Wufei grumbled as he leaned back against Tiddy's chest.

Tiddy looked over at the tall brunet who in turn was trying to make it look like he wasn't looking at them. "Yeah, I see him."

"He's been looking at me all day. It's like every time I turn around he's there."

Tiddy sneered at the tall boy leaning against a wall further away, surrounded by a large group of friends. "Creepy bastard."

"Yeah, that's for sure." Wufei lifted up his magazine, trying to ignore the looks. At least he knew that the jocks wouldn't do anything to them now when they were all together, especially not while Jason was here.

Jason could make even Heero Yuy back down without moving a muscle because the guy was huge. He kind of looked like a stereotype bad guy; big, black and always wearing his bad boy rocker outfit, he could intimidate just about anyone. And that was without all the rumors that were going around about him. Wufei once overheard some guys talking about how Jason had killed someone in his last school – the reason why he had moved to their school. Wufei, who knew for a fact that Jason moved because his mother had gotten a new job, couldn't help but tell the guys that Jason hadn't killed anyone... he had just broken his spine and put him in a wheelchair. Jason laughed his ass off when he had told him about it.

So it might not be so strange that people were weary of Jason. Actually, anyone with a brain should be intimidated by him; or at least until you got to know him and realized that he was just one big teddy bear. The first time Wufei met him, he had been begging his girlfriend to please let him go play in the mud because it looked really fun when the small kids were doing it. She wouldn't let him because she didn't want him to get her car dirty. Jason had whined like a five year old being deprived of sweets until she found some plastic bags that he could use to cover the seats on the way back. The huge guy had then dived in to the mud together with a couple of friends where a strange sort of wrestling/tag game started.

Wufei, Tiddy, Hilde and Jasons' s girlfriend had just stood back and watched the half naked boys tumble around in the mud. It had been a nice day.

Wufei smiled at the memory before reaching behind himself to move the sharp Wicca symbol that Tiddy had around her neck. He settled back again, now more comfortably leaning back. With one last glare at the creep, he turned back to his magazine.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo realized that he had been caught looking and quickly turned back to his friends. They were talking about some girl, Duo had no idea who. He couldn't care less about what size her breasts were. This was the worst part of being in the closet. You could never really be yourself; you always had to watch what you said and what you did, so no one could expose you. One slip of a tongue and life as you knew it would be ruined.

In a way, Duo longed to be out. He knew that things wouldn't be the same and that he would have to put up with a lot of shit, but it just might be worth it. Especially if he had someone to do it for. Duo took a sip from his cola and looked over at the dark group of people lounging on the floor in front of a row of lockers.

Some of them seemed to be playing some kind of children's game since they were clapping their hands to a certain beat, while some were just talking and laughing. And in the middle of it all was Wufei who was sitting between the legs of a barely dressed girl with his head leaned back against her chest. Her big breast seamed to be serving as a headrest for the exotic boy who was carelessly flipping through a gay life style magazine. His tight black sweater had been pushed up slightly, reveling a smooth hipbone above the edge of his black jeans.

Duo sighed in longing. He would put up with a lot of shit if he got to be the one sitting behind that beautiful boy. He was fully aware that it would never happen since the guy didn't seem so fond of him, a thing that would probably not change any time soon. He wondered if there was a way that he could get close to him so he could show him that he was a nice guy.

He fantasized about walking over to them, sitting down on the floor next to that exposed hipbone and say, 'Hi, I'm Duo, and I think you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. If you just give me a chance, I will do anything for you and make all your dreams come true. So would you go out with me?' At his words, Wufei would smile – a big happy smile that soon would turn into a seductive smirk. Wufei would then pull that soft looking sweater over his own head, and Duo would touch that tempting body before they fell back on the floor – no, on the bed. Both naked, they would wrap themselves around each other, and Wufei would open his legs in invitation. Duo would kiss his smiling lips before sliding in to-

"Hey, Maxwell."

Tim's voice ripped him from his fantasy, leaving him disorientated and not just a little horny.

"Did you enjoy Mrs. Jenkins class?" Tim asked with a leer.

Duo had no idea what he was supposed to enjoy during the pretty mediocre math class, but it was clear that he was supposed know. He tried to get some idea of what was going on from the looks of the other guys faces, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out what they had been talking about while he was zoning out. Calming himself, he decided to settle for a neutral. "It was interesting."

"I bet it was." Tim snickered. "Those tits are insane."

"You just wait until she starts pointing at things that are high up. Her shirt rides up pretty far, man those lucky bastards in the first row." Brian shook his head with a grin.

They guys all laughed, and Duo forced himself to laugh with them.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei wiggled his lip piercing from side to side as he pretended to listen to the teacher. He usually liked the literature class, but the stories they were tackling were ones by Dickens – naïve, simple and idealistic tales for children. He wasn't all that interesting in hearing about his life and how he had worked at some shoe factory when he was a kid and so on. He just wished that Tiddy or Hilde was in this class so that he could have thrown notes at them – which would have helped him pass the time. As it was now, he was working hard to stay relaxed and not be bothered by the eyes that were burning into the back of his neck. He knew the creep was looking at him; he didn't need to turn around to know this. An unsettling feeling was growing in his stomach, and he forced himself not tense. Instead, he concentrated on looking as relaxed and comfortable as he could manage while he faked interest in Oliver Twist.

When the class was finally over, he more or less ran out of the classroom to get away from the constant pressure of the bastard's eyes on him.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"So are you coming to the party this weekend?" Simon asked. Duo looked up from where he was searching through his locker for books for the next class.

"Sure, I don't have any plans."

"It's going to be great. There are going to be a ton of hot girls there." Simon leered.

Duo forced a smile. "Can't wait."

"Yeah, because one thing is for sure, there are not going to be any ugly bitches like that anywhere near my party." He said and flicked his head to the right.

Duo looked up only to see that girl who was always hanging around Wufei. She was with another goth girl, and they were walking towards them fast.

Brian, who was standing next to them, snarled. "Fucking freaks, it's like they don't have their own identity. They just copy each others' crappy style. Ever heard of colors?" He asked loudly as two gloomy dressed girls walked past them. The girls glared with distaste at them.

Duo grimaced. "Was that really necessary?"

Brian rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on. It's not like they even care what we say."

"Yeah, but still..." Duo mumbled unhappily.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"God, I fucking hate those jocks." Tiddy hissed as she ripped her locker open.

"What did they do this time?" Wufei asked as he searched through his bag.

"Just being assholes. I saw you stalker with them by the way."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me? That bastard is everywhere." Wufei snorted as he started lifting things out of his messenger bag.

"I'm just so sick of them. I was in a really good mode before they showed up."

Wufei started going through all the side pockets on the black bag."Yeah?"

"We got this really cool assignment for history class. We are going to totally trash all homophobic shit in the Bible; it's going to be great. Mr. A knew this book that some guy had written a couple of years ago and- what the fuck are you looking for?" She cut herself off to ask.

Wufei, who was shaking his bag back and fort, sighed. "I can't find my fluoride tablets."

"Maybe you forgot them at home?"

"Maybe, but I was so sure that I put them back in the inner pocket the last time I took one."

"Have you checked the rest of your coat?"

"Yes."

"Your locker?"

"Yes."

Tiddy walked over to his locker and started to lift some books around.

"I've already searched there." He said as he started to pat down the many pockets of his bondage pants.

"Found it." She held up the small silver locket in triumph just a few seconds later.

"Where was it?" He frowned as she handed it to him.

"In the back under some papers."

Opening the lid he popped one of the small white pills in his mouth. "Thanks Tid, you want one?"

"Oh, mints. Mmm." She took one and sucked happily on it.

"Hey." Trowa mumbled as he came over to them.

"What's up?" Wufei asked as he carefully put the locket back into his coats inner pocket.

Trowa shrugged. "Nothing much. Just had to sit through an entire lesson with Brian Jefferson."

Wufei grimaced in sympathy. "I feel your pain. I had one with that new guy."

"The one that looked at you like you were a three-headed goat?" Trowa asked in amusement.

"That's the one. I'm so sick of him because where ever it was he came from, they sure didn't have any goths there because he's been staring at me all day. It's fucking pissing me off." Wufei growled.

"Just ignore him. Anything else will just make it worse." Tiddy said.

"And if it gets worse, tell me and Jason, and we'll take care of it." Trowa said it so easily like he wasn't talking about beating someone up.

Wufei sighed. "I don't want him hurt, I just want him to stop."

Tiddy squeezed his hand in comfort.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

That was it for now, next chapter will be posted in one or two days. Now, pleeeeeeeeease review :)


	5. Chapter 5

-:-:-:--:-:-:-:-

Chapter 5 (Wednesday)

The next day passed in a blur as Duo tried to work up the courage to talk to the other boy. He had thought he was ready a couple of times but every time he saw him he got so nervous that he couldn't get his mouth to work. Instead, he just watched him at every chance got. He learned a lot about him by just observing: he was left handed, he played the piano, he didn't like potatoes, he always sucked on his lip piercing when he was thinking, and for some reason, he didn't like Duo because every time that he saw him he would glare at him.

Taking a seat next to his friends, Duo automatically scanned the cafeteria, trying to catch a sight of his china doll. Then he saw him, sitting straight ahead from him. There were two empty tables between their table and the 'goth table', so he could see him perfectly.

'Oh, god. Is that a corset?' Duo thought as he felt his mouth water, and his pants started to become tight. Trying not to blush he bundled his sweater up in his lap. It wasn't fair! What had he done to deserve this? He prayed that no one would notice that he had a hard-on in the middle of the cafeteria. He tried to look away, but he had a clear sight of that beautiful vision, and he could not for the life of him look away. Ink black hair was spiked up to perfection, and some strands were hanging down over the perfect face. Wufei was talking and laughing with his friends, and Duo eyed the empty seat in front of the angel with longing. What he wouldn't do just to be able to sit there. The girl who always walked around with her hair looking like a birds nest playfully pushed Wufei in the back, something that made the boy arch his back to get away. The movement made his the corset slide down and gave Duo a quick peak at a pair of dark nipples. Duo decided that this had to be the sweetest torture in the world.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Tiddy ruffled her hair to get more volume into the back. "That guy is staring at you again," she informed her friend.

Wufei grimaced. "Ugh, I know. Don't remind me. I've been trying to avoid him all day. I can't stand his kind because not only does he have to get on his preppy high horses, he waits it out too. He's probably planning to ambush me after school or something." Wufei stabbed the innocent looking potato with his fork.

Tiddy tightened her lips. "Fucking jerk. Why can't they just leave us alone?"

Wufei snorted. "Probably against their nature. I'm almost looking forward to the confrontation because the looking is just pissing me off. Come on, let's go." He got up and shrugged on his long leather coat. But before he left, he made sure to meet the creep's eyes straight on and give him the finger.

Terry laughed and took a hold of his arm. "Nice. I'm sure that made his day."

Wufei grinned. "Wouldn't want him to get a guilty conscience for trying to kick my ass later."

Terry just snickered as they walked away.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo took a deep breath and tried to calm his racing nerves. The school was mostly empty since classes had ended long ago. He would usually be long gone by this time, but he had found out that Wufei was going to stay late today. The band practice apparently went on until half past four, but Q had told him that Wufei and the other pianist were going to stay for another half an hour to go through some changes in their notes. It was the perfect time to approach him.

It was pretty risky to ask someone out when you were gay. Even if you knew that the person you were going to ask were also gay, there was nothing stopping the guy from not coming out of the closet and denying everything. By the next day, everybody could know about it, and your social life would more or less be over. It hadn't really been a problem in his last school since he had so many friends who would back him up. He had never really been 'out', but the people closest to him knew without him having to tell them. Damn, he missed his friends. They had always been there for him, but now he was more or less on his own.

He could see Wufei over by his locker. He looked just about ready to leave, and Duo hurried his steps. He had to do it now before he left; who knew when he would get the chance again.

Taking deep even breathes as he walked, he repeated the thought-through words that he was going to say. _'Hi, I was just wondering if you would like to go on a date with me. Hi, I was just wondering if you would like to go on a date with me. Hi, I was just wondering if you would like to go on a date with me. Hi, I was just wondering if you would like to go on a date with me.'_ He repeated to himself over and over again as he walked towards the other boy.

Startled dark eyes glared up at him, but Duo forced himself to stand tall. "H-" He started to say but got cut off as a burning pain made its way from his crotch. His legs gave out and he fell to the floor.

"That's right fucker, didn't see that one coming did you?" Wufei sneered down at him. Duo could only whimper in responds. The Asian gave him a look of disgust. "Take it as a warning, the next time you try something, I'll start cutting shit off." With that he turned and slammed his locker closed. The long black coat fluttered, and his heavy boots echoing with a metallic clang as he walked away. It took Duo a long time before he managed to pick himself off the floor.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Later that night, Wufei wasn't feeling all that pleased with himself. He wasn't normally a very violent person, and he thought about apologizing. It hadn't been a fair fight at all, and he felt a bit bad about it. He had panicked when the creep suddenly just showed up next to him, and it was pure instinct to just nail him one.

He walked over to the cage standing on top of his dresser and fished up his speckled hamster. Opening the top drawer, he found the boxes of Vitacraft vitamin drops. "So what are we having today? We have strawberry, milk and honey and... yogurt." The hamster chattered and stretched out to sniff the air.

"Milk and honey it is then, darling." Taking one of the golden drops, he closed the drawer with his hip and walked over to his bed where he threw himself down on his back. Placing both the hamster and the drop on his chest, he put his hands behind his head as he watched his furry friend throw herself over the vitamin drop.

"So what do you think I should do?" He asked the hamster. "It's possible that he wasn't going to beat me up... he could have been asking for the time or something..." The hamster paused slightly in her nibbling. "Okay, that sounded kind of naive, but I can't help it. I really don't want anyone to dislike me for no reason at all." The hamster paid him no mind. "Are you even listening? Damn gluttonous hamster." He mumbled and tipped the fluffy animal over on to her back, something that didn't make the hamster stop eating even for a second. She just calmly laid back using one of the corset's boning as a pillow, happily nibbling away. Wufei smiled slightly before turning his eyes towards the ceiling.

"I might even have given the guy a real reason to hate me now... Shit, I might even get in to trouble. All the creep has to do is to tell the teachers or the principal, and I will be in a shit load of trouble. It's not like it's the first time that I have gotten into a fight. Damn, just don't let me get expelled." He groaned and thumped his head into his pillow.

"I really should apologize. No, that would be a cowardly reason to apologize. 'I'm sorry for kicking you, so don't report me.' No, I won't do that. But I could apologize just because I feel bad about it. It's easy to say that he deserved it and that I was just defending myself. But it doesn't feel like that; it feels like I'm the bastard, you know?"

Alfred, who had finished her treat, wiggled around until she managed to tip over and got on her feet. "You think I should talk to him?" He asked, but the hamster didn't answer; she only sniffed the air and started to explore his waist.

"But at the same time I don't want to. I mean who wants to apologize to a bully for standing up to him?"

Albert snorted and rubbed her muzzle.

"Fine, so I didn't exactly stand up so much as I just crushed his balls. But still, maybe I could say something without actually saying 'sorry'."

Albert, who was in the middle of cleaning her paws, seemed to ignore him.

"I see that you don't believe me. But let me tell you, Miss Rodent. I could -so- apologize without apologizing."

Albert turned her back to him and climbed down on his legs and wandered off.

"Hey, you're not helping" He pointed accusingly at the retreating animal. "What kind of hamster are you? Running away from the big questions and leaving me all alone. I feel hurt, I shall never recover... and I'm talking to my hamster." Wufei sighed and dropped his head back on his pillow. There was no way around it. He would have to talk to the bastard. He would never get any peace if he didn't.

"So the guy will probably laugh in my face and tell everyone about the loser who groveled before him... but then he would have to tell why I was doing it. Mr. Popular probably doesn't want his friends to know that the goth, who's like half his size, turned him into a whimpering lump on the floor... and now I feel guilty again. God damn it, I hate having a conscience." He grumbled.

His heavy thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a chainsaw, and the painful screams of its victims. He fished his phone out of his tight pants.

"Chang's exotic fantasy store, how may I help you?" He asked with in his sweetest tone of voice.

"Yes, I'll have one lesbo delight with some extra spanking and a bit of hair pulling on the side, please."

"Do you want the paddle spanking or the naughty spanking? We also have a special offer on golden showers."

"Ewww, that's just nasty."

Wufei snickered. "Don't knock it until you've tried it."

"Pass."

"Another time then. So, what's up Tiddy my love?"

"Nothing much babe, just bored. Hey, have you gotten a post card from Hilde?"

"No."

"Then she forgot to send them, I knew she would."

"That's Hilde for you. Hey, I was actually going to call you. You'll never guess what happened after practice."

"What? Did the creep finally make his move?"

"Yeah, how did you know? Never mind, the dramatic build up was so totally wasted on you."

Tiddy's laughter curled around him. "Sorry." She said unconvincingly. "So what happened? You're all right, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm not so sure about the creep though."

"Oooooh, tell me more." His friend urged him.

"Well, I had just put on my coat and was going to leave when I saw this shadow fall on the floor in front of me. I looked up, and there was the creep, towering over me."

"Why didn't you hear him? It's not like the corridor doesn't echo."

"Tiddy, stop disturbing the story. I had my Ipod on, now can I tell the story?"

"Story? You make it sound like you're making it up."

"Tiddy." He groaned.

"Right. I'm quiet. So then what happened?"

"Where was I? Yes, I looked up, and there he was so I put my weight on one leg and used the other to." He paused dramatically. "Kick him straight in the crotch."

"You kicked him in the crotch?!" She squealed before breaking out in an almost hysterical laughter. "That's fantastic! I wish I could have seen that. I bet it must have looked funny as hell."

Wufei sighed. "Well, funny isn't the first thing that comes to mind."

"Don't tell me that you are feeling bad for him." Tiddy begged

"Kind of."

"Wuuuufei." The girl whined.

"I could have just walked away. I didn't want to hurt him, but he just came out so fast, and I kind of panicked."

"It's totally understandable. You did the right thing. There was no one around, he could have tried anything."

"I guess... it's just that I hate hurting people, and I really hate that I was the one who started it... I've never actually started a fight before."

"You didn't start anything. He was the one who cornered you." She protested.

"I know... I just... he's been watching me all the time, it's like he's following me." He looked down to where his hamster was trying to climb up his arm. Carefully bending his arm, he picked the furry body and held her in the palm of his hand.

Tiddy snickered. "Maybe he's got a crush on you."

"Ha-ha. Very funny. I'm being serious. I don't know what he's got against me, but he's not going to let it go. I can feel it." He sighed while Albert was making herself comfortable.

"Well hopefully the kick will teach him something. So... did you get him good?"'

Wufei leered. "Yeah I hit him straight on. I might have used a bit too much force when I kicked him – not to mention the fact that I was wearing my black and silver boots. You know, the ones with all the big studs on the sides and the steel covering." He took a break for effect and listened to his friend laugh hysterically "The poor bastard was whimpering on the floor before he had time to figure out what happened. It was probably just luck that I didn't pierce him with the studs"

"That's great honey!" Tiddy cheered. "Well done. That really should teach him."

"Yeah..." Wufei trailed off and petted Alfred with his pinkie."I hope so."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N So that was it... ta-da

I wasn't going to update until tomorrow since I really did not have time today. But then I got such nice reviews from people telling me to update as soon as possible, so I took a few minutes to do just that. I hope you liked it, so please, pleeease review.


	6. Chapter 6

(Thursday)

Duo was trying very hard to walk like his entire crotch wasn't one big bruise. So far he wasn't doing all that well. The rest of the guys had called him a cowboy all day.

He was more than a little confused over what had happened, but from what he could guess, Wufei didn't like him all that much; in fact, he seemed to hate his guts. He didn't know why since he hadn't even managed to collect enough courage to talk to him, never mind do anything that could piss him off enough for this kind of reaction.

He glanced over at Brian who was laughing at something that Quatre had said. It might be because of his friends. Yeah, that kind of made sense. Brian made no secret of the fact that he didn't like Wufei, and Quarte seemed almost scared of the gothic boy. None of the other guys had said much about it, but he had a feeling that they didn't like Wufei either. So it might not be all that hard to figure out that the dislike might go both ways.

Duo sighed. Great, now what was he going to do? He didn't want to give up, that wasn't really his style. But at the same time, he didn't know how he was going to make contact with the other boy without yesterday's fiasco repeating itself.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Quatre was really starting to get worried over his new friend because if he seriously were going to ask Wufei Chang out, things were going to get ugly very fast. He wasn't even thinking about what kind of reaction their friends and the people around them would have, no, he was thinking about what those freaks were going to do to him.

Duo sighed. "There has to be some way that I can talk to him."

Quatre closed his locker and took a quick look over to where Duo's crush was standing with his scary looking friends. "Yeah, some way that doesn't result in you getting your ass kicked. Can't you just write him letters or something."

"Love letters?"

Quatre shrugged. "Yeah, why not. Do things the old fashion way." He glanced over at the goths. 'Maybe if he writes it in blood. That should probably be something that Chang would appreciate.' He thought and tried not to shudder. He seriously didn't get what Duo saw in the weird psycho, but he knew better by now than to try to talk him out of it. His new friend was nothing if not stubborn.

Duo awkwardly pulled at the hair in the back of his neck. "But what should I write? I don't want to sound like a stalker."

Quatre gave the other boy a long look. "Duo, I'm pretty sure that you are a stalker."

"I'm not! I just... follow him around a bit." Duo muttered.

"As I was saying. Stalker."

"... Well I still don't want to sound like it."

Quatre rolled his eyes. "Well you can always try. You don't have to send it if you don't want to.

"I guess..."

"Come on stalker boy. Class starts in a few minutes."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Well back in Solo's apartment, Duo shut himself into his room with all his unpacked boxes to try writing a letter. Try being the key word. He couldn't remember the last time he had written a letter and emails didn't count.

He sat down at his desk, or the board lying on top of a couple of boxes that he used as a desk. Furniture was next after boots on the list of things that they were going to buy when Solo got paid.

'Love letter... What do people write in love letters?' Duo bit into his pencil and twirled his chair around in a circle. Putting his pen down on an empty page in his pad, he started to write.

_I wonder if you know how beautiful you are. How your smiles lit up the room and how-_

'Yeah and that didn't sound cheesy at all.' Duo sighed and looked up at the ceiling. 'What should I write?'

Taking a new page, he tried again. _Just looking at you makes me so hard that I just want to push you down on top of a desk and-_

'No, that is definitely out of the question.' Duo put his feet up on one of the boxes and tried again. _'I know that you don't like me but, I'm asking you for a chance to prove myself to you._' Duo gave the start of his letter a long look before pressing the paper in to a ball and throwing it in the bin with a dejected sigh.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

After school, Wufei found himself lying on his bed with his head in Tiddy's lap.

"Do you still feel like apologizing?" She asked him.

Wufei frowned. "Hell no, I took one look at him today, and any pity I had for him just disappeared. I don't care what he thinks of me, and I'm sure as hell not going to waste any energy on trying to make him change his mind."

"So you don't care?"

"No, I don't." He said as he wrote 'fag hag' in big curvy letters on the underside of her arm with the permanent ink pen.

"I think you do." She smiled and rubbed the fingers on her free hand around in his hair, making it even more of a mess.

Wufei sighed, both in pleasure and defeat. "I don't want to care. I shouldn't care about what some bully with a bigger shoo size then IQ level thinks of me." He grumbled and drew a crocked flower on her elbow. Tiddy gave the flower an amused smile, focusing on Wufei's spiky hair once again. "But you do, so what are you going to do about it?"

Wufei shrugged and put the cap back on the pen. "I don't know. Nothing I guess. It's just so strange; I've never cared so much about what they think about me before."

Tiddy snorted and pulled slightly at the black ring on top of his ear. "Yeah right, you're too nice and sensitive. You always care about what they think, you always feel bad when you kick someone ass, and you always get a quilt conscience when you insult someone back."

Wufei pouted. "I do not."

She poked him in the ear.

Wufei flinched. "Hey! Stop that, I hate it when you do that." Wufei batted her hand away to rub his ear to get the feeling away. "Fine, so I feel bad, but not like this. It's much worse now."'

"Why is that?"

He opened his mouth to respond, only to close it again. Tiddy didn't say anything; she just slowly combed her fingers through his hair and let him think in peace. They sat there quietly for a long while, just resting. Tiddy leaned back against the wall with Wufei's head in her lap.

"I think," he started before pausing to suck on his lip piercing in thought. "I think it's because it somehow feels like I started the whole thing. It doesn't make any sense, but that's what it fees like." Wufei sighed. "I kind of want to ask him, 'hey, what did I do to make you hate me?' He never says anything, he just looks at me. It's like he's waiting for the perfect opportunity to lay it on me. Like yesterday when he sneaked up on me after band practice. I can't remember the last time when I was that scared. I just remember thinking 'this is it, this is where he's going to do it' almost like I thought he was going to stab me or something, and for all I knew he might have been going to." He curled up tighter against her.

Tiddy bent down to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Well then, it's a good thing that you crushed his balls before he had the chance to do anything."

"Yeah, what I don't like is the thought what he's going to do to me in revenge for it. I can take one of them down, and if I have something to use as a weapon I might be able to handle two without getting totally trashed. But what happens if he gets the whole basket team after me? I'm fucked, that's what."

Tiddy sighed and stroke his thin, carefully plucked eyebrows. "We'll take care of you. Trowa and Jason wont let anything happen you... but at least he didn't report you."

Wufei sighed. "That's always something. I seriously don't want to get expelled."

"I think you should ignore him. Treat him like air and don't even glare at him."

"You really think that will work?"

"You can always try."

Wufei was just about to answer but stopped as a scared woman's voice started screaming 'not the face, please not the face.' Wufei wiggled a bit before he managed to get his cellphone out of his tight pants. "Hey Trowa, what up?"

"Nothing much. I meant to ask you if you were alright but I never had the chance."

"Why?" Wufei asked as he batted Tiddy's hands away from his ears.

"You seemed a bit out of it, and Tiddy kept mumbling about some bastard. Have anyone been giving you any problems?"

Wufei sighed. "A bit, but I took care of it." 'Sort of'

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, don't worry and don't tell the Teddy bear, or he's going to blow things out of proportions."

Trowa snickered. "Jason wouldn't be Jason if he didn't."

"I'm not totally defenceless, you guys. Two years of Karate right here, I can kick ass if I want to." The Asian muttered.

Tiddy snickered. "Who are you trying to fool, you couldn't hurt a fly."

Wufei stuck his tongue out. "Well, flies have never done anything to me, now, have they?"

"Idiot." Tiddy said in affectionate voice.

"Bitch."

"Takes one to know one, babe."

"If you two are going to keep flirting, I'm going to hang up." Trowa cut in.

Wufei couldn't even begin to tell him how wrong that statement was before Tiddy let out a long 'ewww' like Trowa had suggested that she should make out with a dog's ass.

"Hey, I'm not that bad." Wufei defended himself.

"No, you're worse! I'm going to kill you for giving me that mental image, Trowa!" She called out loudly, making Meilan pound the wall in protest. When Wufei started to laugh, she heartlessly pushed him off the bed.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

That was all for now. Next chapter will be posted on Friday. Until then, thanks for reading and I would be very happy if you took the time to review. Please? -puppy eyes-


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7 (Friday)

This was the day.

Wufei took a deep breath as he looked at himself and the short gothic dress that he was wearing in the mirror. This wasn't the first time that he had worn it, but it was the first time that he was going to wear it where others could see him. He was pretty nervous to show up at school in his new outfit, but he just loved it so much – and he now had finally had gotten the courage to wear it outside of his own room. Nerves and excitement twisted in his stomach and he tried not to play with any of the laces.

The black and blood red dress was perfect; he had bought it from the Internet, and his mother had helped him make it in to his size. It was really meant to be worn by a girl but his mother had made it wider around the waist and changed the whole cleavage since, well, he didn't have one.

Turning around he looked over his shoulder, examining the back, twisting his upper body to make sure that everything was staying in its place. The dress didn't have any shoulder straps, and he didn't want the dress to start falling off him.

Drying his sweaty hands of on his make up towel, he took one last look in the mirror and stretched his back. "Okay, you can do this, you want to do this." He whispered to himself as he touched his reflexion.

"Wish me luck." He called out to Albert as she got up on her hind legs to watch his departure.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

His father sighed when he came down to the breakfast table.

"You are going to wear that to school?" He asked in a resigned voice.

Wufei poured some cereals into a bowl. "Yes."

His father rubbed a hand over his eyes. "Just- just be careful Wufei, please. I don't want to get any more calls about you getting in to fights."

"I'm not going to get expelled," he mumbled, already starting to regret that he put on the dress when he got up.

His father pushed his chair back and got to his feet. Wufei who had kept his eyes on the floating wheat pieces startled when a large hand landed on his shoulder.

"There are more schools out there, but there is only one of you. So please be careful, stay with your friends and- and don't listen to them. Okay?"

Wufei looked up at his father's worried face. "Yeah, dad."

He was rewarded with a smile and an affectionate pat on the shoulder. "That's good," the man hesitated a bit awkwardly. "And Wufei, it-... it's. The-the dress looks really nice."

Wufei beamed. "Thanks, dad." He knew that his father still had a few hang ups over his way of life. He had been pretty shocked when Wufei came out, but he had mostly gotten over it. His biggest problem nowadays was the way he dressed, but maybe he was working his way past that too.

His father looked slightly embarrassed, like he couldn't believe that he had actually said it, but he was smiling. "Well, yes. I've got to go. I'll see you tonight."

Wufei smiled at his father's awkward departure and turned back to his cereals.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Tiddy squealed happily when she saw him. "You look fucking hot, babe."

Wufei grinned. "Thanks."

Tiddy motioned for him to twirl around, which he did. "Hot, hot, hot. Seriously, I think I'm jealous."

"You don't think it's a bit... much?" He asked and fingered the black lace around his waist. He had planed this for so long that now the time was here he couldn't decide how he felt about it.

He had spent a lot of time on putting the whole outfit together. Changing it, choosing which accessories he should use and so on.

The knee high leather boots weren't new, but this was the first time that he had had the guts the wear them with a skirt. Usually, he would hide them under a loose pair of pants so that they looked like a regular par of high heals. His hair wasn't spiked like the usual either; instead, he had combed it so that it hanged freely around his face, making the red strands of hair stand out more.

He wasn't wearing a lot of makeup; just the usual black eyeliner around his eyes with a dark red eye shadow. He just hoped that he didn't look too much like a girl. He wasn't a transvestite; he just... wanted to look nice.

"No, no. It looks great." Tiddy reassure him. "But wait." She dropped her 'Hello Kitty' backpack to the ground and started to search through it. "I know it's here somewhere, I saw it last week, and it-aha! Found it. Here, this will be perfect." She held out a slim black tube to him. He accepted it and slowly opened the lid, revealing a dark red lipstick. Excitement stirred in his stomach.

It wasn't often that he let himself go all the way. Lip gloss and lipstick was a luxury that he hasn't indulged in that much outside his own bedroom. Painting his lips were, for some reason, a step too far over the line between male and female – Something that, for him, was on a completely different, higher level from the high heels and dresses.

"I don't know." He said and sucked on his lip ring.

"Come on, it will look totally hot. The color will look great with your skin. Come on, Wufei."

He wanted to. He really did, but did he have the guts to do it? Wufei took a deep breath. Yeah, he did; there was no backing out now. "Okay." He closed his fingers tightly around the slip tube. The closest mirror was in the bathroom down the hall, and he made sure that he walked there with his head held high.

Wufei pushed the door open and walked inside without even glancing at the other boys in there. The last thing he needed was to get accused of looking at someone's cock.

"Hey Chang, this is the guy's bathroom. The little girl's room is across the hall." Some smart ass taunted, making the rest laugh like the hyenas that they were. Wufei pretended to ignore them and opened the lid. The dark color that had felt so intriguing before almost felt intimidating now and he hesitated.

"Gonna try to make yourself pretty, faggot? Don't you know that guys hate to get lipstick on their cocks?" A dark presence taunted somewhere behind him. "You are not going to get many costumers that way."

_'Fuck it. Fuck them.'_ He thought to the sound of their evil laughter as he put the lipstick to his lips. With quick and easy strokes he covered his lips. Tiddy was right. The color was perfect, and he looked hot.

He gave his reflection one last look before turning to leave. The other boys were still throwing insults after him, but he forced himself not to listen. Giving them the finger over his shoulder, he left. Wounded but victorious.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

_'God, why didn't I choose another day to wear the dress.'_ Wufei thought in despair as he kicked the back of his sneakers against the wall. _'No, I just had to pick a day when we had gym, great planning Chang, great planning.'_

It was after gym class, and he was standing outside the girl's dressing room waiting impassively for Tiddy to come out and say that it was clear to come in.

It just wasn't an option to use the boy's dressing room anymore. It had just started out as taunting and threats that he 'better keep his faggot eyes to himself', but it had escalated over the years. Being naked in the shower was a vulnerable situation that was too often exploited. Wufei still had nightmares about lying bleeding on a white tile floor while dark shapes were looming over him.

The girls were okay, they never did anything other then talk shit about him behind his back. Some of the more stuck up girls had protested against having him use their dressing room, but after Tiddy and Hilde cursed them out a couple of times, things had quieted down.

Wufei sighed and fingered the 'Him' symbol on his shirt. The prints were coming lose, and he couldn't help but pick at it while he waited. It was just too bad that the girls took so long to get ready because he was almost always late for the next class, especially since he almost always needed more time then the girls to get ready.

He just wanted to shower and leave before the basket players showed up for their training. The last thing he wanted was to run in to the creep and his gang.

He smiled happily when Tiddy opened the door and motioned for him to come in.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo lazily bounced the ball as he walked over to the rest of the players there. There were still a few people who hadn't shown up yet, and their coach wasn't going to be there for another twenty minutes. Heero, he and another guy had played a few rounds just for fun, but there wasn't any point in wearing themselves out before the actual warm up.

"What kind of freak dresses like that?" He heard one of them spit out as he came over to them.

Duo dried some sweat off his forehead and sat down on an empty seat on the bench with the rest of the guys.

"Who?" He asked Tim, who was sitting next to him as he took a deep gulp from his water bottle.

Tim pointed towards the girls' dressing room, and Duo choked on his water. The rest of the guys laughed, and Tim slapped him on the back with a snicker. "Yeah, that's how I feel."

_'I doubt this is how you feel.'_ He thought as he coughed for all he was worth. Because standing over by the door with one foot up on a plastic chair was Wufei, tying his knee high leather boots with great concentration. But that wasn't the worst part. No, the worst part was that he was wearing a dress, a really short dress that barely covered his ass. Duo let his eyes travel from the spiked heel, over the criss-crossed lacing to the pair of wine red pantyhose that were covering unmistakably male thighs, then to the frilly black skirt, to the slim waist with wine red lace and-

Duo paused and went back down to the skirt where he, indeed, could see the edge of a garter belt. Swallowing thickly, Duo ducked his head and continued to watch Wufei through his bangs. The corset in black velvet didn't in anyway give any illusion of breasts, and instead it clung to his flat chest like a second skin. The low cut barely covered his nipples, and his naked shoulders were among the most tempting things Duo had ever seen.

Duo marvelled at how someone dressed in something obviously too girly could look so obviously male.

"How the hell does he get away with looking like that?" Someone snorted.

"I heard that his parents are lawyers, and they threatened to sue the school if they tried to stop him." Heero said as he bounced the orange ball from one hand to the floor to the other hand and back again.

"Someone really should fuck him up." Brian stated, getting a few agreeing sounds from some other guys.

Duo flinched and fingered his bottle nervously. He cleared his throat slightly. "Ehm, I think it looks... cool... a bit... you know." He took a swig from his water and refused to look at the rest of them.

Brian snorted. "What? You're a fucking faggot too, Maxwell?"

Cold sweat made its way down his back. _'God, why did I say anything?_' He thought in dread for what was about to come.

Tim snickered. "Give it up, Jefferson, I agree with Maxwell. I mean just look at him. Put a pair of tits in that thing, and he would be a girl. A pretty hot fucking girl, I'd totally fuck her."

Simon, who was standing behind him, laughed. "Totally, bend her over that chair and fuck her raw."

"Admit it, you would fuck that thing even without the breast, fucking faggot." Tim teased.

"Fuck you," was Simon's incredibly intelligent response.

"Forget about it, I'm not your butt ugly girlfriend, and I'm sure as hell not your dog. Ask Chang over there, I bet he'll grab his ankles before you even finished the question."

The rest of the guys roared in laughter, and Simon delivered a punch to Tim's shoulder.

"I bet you know that first hand, don't you?" Simon threw back. "Tell me, does he dress up for you... or maybe it's you who dresses up for him? What do you say guys, wouldn't Timmy here look lovely in a slutty little schoolgirl dress?"

"You better stop right there, or I'm going to kick your ass." Tim growled.

"Oooh, I think someone is just a little bit too defensive. Is there something you would like to tell us?"

"Shut the fuck up!" Tim roared loudly, making the rest of the guys laugh, and Duo wish he was anywhere but there.

"It's okay, just come out of the closet." Simon choked out between his laughter

Tim dove towards the laughing brunet, and a wild wrestling match broke out where Simon was telling Tim that it was okay, that he should embrace his inner faggot.

Duo, who wanted to sink through the floor, looked over at Wufei. His dark gothic angel gave all of them a look of disgust over his shoulder before walking away. Duo gave the swinging hips a look of longing before turning back to his friends.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo hadn't seen the gothic boy since then, but not because he hadn't been trying. He had, in what he hoped was a nonchalant way, walked past the corridor where Wufei had his locker, the table on the second floor where the goths usually hanged out and tried to catch a sight of him over by the music room where he had first seen him on the first day of school. But it was without result; the boy was nowhere to be found.

He had been hoping to see him during lunch, but Wufei wasn't in the cafeteria. He had been ready to leave a long time ago, but was clinging to some hope that Wufei would still show. Trying not to pout, he distracted himself by talking to his friends.

"I haven't seen your girlfriend around lately." He said to the muscular boy sitting in front of him.

Heero blinked. "What girlfriend?"

"Oh, I just thought that the girl who always comes to our games was your girlfriend. The one in pink." Duo said as he took a sip from his milk. The milk was the only thing he had left on his tray; he loved milk but this was his third glass and everyone would probably think that he was insane if he got up -again- to refill his glass.

Heero grimaced while the rest of them laughed.

"Yeah, Heero, where is that girlfriend of yours?"

"She is not my girlfriend." The brunet hissed.

Duo gave the brunet a twisted smile. "Could have fooled me. She was all over you."

Tim grinned and threw an arm over Heero's shoulders. "Don't worry, we'll help you get her."

"The hell you will." The muscular boy growled before glaring at Duo like it was all his fault that he was in this situation.

"Hey, don't look at me! I hardly meet the girl," he said as he collected his things and got up. He was getting restless, and he wanted to take another look around to see if he could find Wufei. Even if he wouldn't be able to really talk to him, then maybe at least he could tell him that he liked the dress. It would be a great time to do so since none of his friends would be around.

Tim was laughing. "Maybe we should ask her to show up at Simon's party?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Better watch it Heero, I think he means it." Duo snickered as he looked down at the fuming boy.

"I'll get you for this, Maxwell."

Walking backwards, he grinned at his friend. "Yeah, yeah. And I just might tell her that you are just too shy to tell her how much you want to get in to her panties."

By Heeros outraged 'fuck no', he wasn't all that supportive of that idea. Duo laughed and turned to walk away, only to knock right in to someone. _'No!'_ was all he had time to think before his milk glass tipped over a very familiar figure. Time almost stood still as he watched in horror as the milk spilled out over the front of Wufei's beautiful dress. He was vaguely aware of people cheering and laughing around him, but all his focus was on the devastated dark eyes in front of him.

"Oops," was all he managed to choke out. Hurt eyes immediately turned hard and cold as they turned to glare up at him with venom.

_'OOPS?! What the fuck?!'_ His panicking mind screamed. _'Apologize fast, say something you idiot! NOW!'_

But it was too late; Wufei was already storming away from him to the sound of laughter and applause. Someone clapped him on the shoulder. "Great job, Maxwell. Man, that was perfect."

"It was an accident." He breathed out.

"Yeah, right." Someone snorted. "Don't be modest, that was fucking genius. Let's hear it for Maxwell!"

Wild applause echoed through the cafeteria while Duo stood in the middle of it all with his shoulder hunched.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"Wufei?" Tiddy's voice called, softly followed by a light knock on the bathroom door. Wufei slowly reached up and unlocked the door, letting his friend in.

"Oh, sweetheart." She whispered as she got down on her knees next to him. He knew that he probably looked pathetic sitting there in only his boxer briefs, a garter belt and his pantyhose, but it was okay as long as it was Tiddy who was there with him. He just wished that Hilde were already back from her trip so that he could have his beast friends on each side of him. He felt like he needed it.

"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to wrap my hands around his throat and strangle him before I snap his fucking neck." Tiddy growled.

Wufei laughed wetly. "Thanks."

Tiddy just stroked his hair as she sat down on the floor next to him.

"I don't have anything to wear." He sniffed. "The dress is wet, and it smells." Tiddy hugged him tightly and let him sob quietly against her shoulder. He trembled as he tried to control his breathing. "I want to go home, but I don't want him to win."

Tiddy tightened her jaw. "He wont, I swear. Just give me a couple of minutes, and I'll get you something to wear."

"Okay." He whispered as he released his friend. He looked over at his dress that he had draped across the toilet and wondered if he was ever going to manage to wear it again. He didn't know if he could put it on with the same joy after all this.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N: ehm... ops? Sorry about that '

Please review/rant/curse me out, and I'll post the next chapter tomorrow.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8 (Friday)

It felt like forever before Tiddy's soft voice called his name from the other side of the door. She soon walked in with a plastic garment cover thrown over her arm. Wufei looked up at her as she unzipped the protective plastic. "It's not the same thing, I know, but I think it's nice, and it should be about your size." Wufei felt his breath catch as Tiddy revealed a light blue kimono in a silky material that seamed to flow like water. He held his hand out and let his fingertips glide over the smooth texture.

"I borrowed it from Samantha, you know, the blond from my drama class. It's her costume for the play."

Wufei swallowed thickly. "Thanks, Tiddy."

"It's okay?"

"It's great, beautiful."

Tiddy grinned. "Good, it will be like a tribute to you inheritance."

A small smile twitched on his lips. "The kimono comes from Japan, I'm Chinese."

Tiddy rolled her eyes. "What ever, do you actually think that any of them knows the difference?"

Wufei couldn't help but laugh. "Probably not."

"Come on, get up. You are going to have to wear your own boots since I couldn't find any of those sandal thingies. It should be cool, mixing the old with the new, you know."

Wufei nodded and got to his feet. Tiddy moved his dress before pushing him down on the toilet seat.

"First we have to get rid of all the old make up."

Wufei nodded once again. He didn't need to look in the mirror to know that his face had long black stripes all over. His eyeliner wasn't water proof, and if his black stained fingertips indicated anything, then his cheeks were probably smudged too. Tiddy wet some paper towels and put some of the chemical smelling soap on it from the pump attached to the wall.

"Close your eyes." She instructed, and when he did, she carefully started to wash his face clean.

Practiced hands then applied a new layer of make up. "I'm going to go for some kind of Geisha look."

Wufei smiled slightly. "You're not going to make my entire face white, are you?"

Tiddy snorted. "If I did, you would look like a corpse. Now be quiet, and let me work."

After what felt like no time at all, Tiddy perfected his make up and put his hair up in a bun in the back of his head. Some strands were too short and fell out, but Tiddy insisted that it just made him look hot.

She then helped him laced his boots up and carefully put his wet dress in the kimonos protective plastic cover with a promise to take care of it. Wufei took a moment to collect himself. He had to be ready, he couldn't let them see that they had gotten to him; he couldn't let -him- see. Steeling himself, he wrapped his hand tightly around Tiddy's before unlocking the door.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Relief flooded Duo's mind as he looked up and saw who was walking in to the classroom. Dressed in a light blue dress in some kind of Asian style, Wufei strode in like he owned the place, and that they should be grateful to even be aloud to be in his presence.

Some idiots were taunting the elegant boy who paid them no mind as he calmly sat down by an empty desk.

Duo envied him. He wished that he was brave enough to stand out and not let other people's opinion bother him. But more than anything, he wished that he was brave enough to scream at them to 'shut the fuck up' because they didn't understand, couldn't see that beauty right before them. Instead he just bowed his head and watched through the bangs, not saying a word.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

When the bell finally rang for the day, Duo was more then happy to leave the hell hole that the school had been that day. He hurried over to his locker to leave his book and get his jacket. He was just a few feet away from the entrance door when someone grabbed a hold of his jacked and slammed him head first in to the wall.

Turning his head around, he caught a sight of that muscular rocker who usually hanged around Wufei and his friends. The other boy might be shorter then him but was still intimidating, since he was heaver, not to mention a lot more muscular then he was.

Dark eyes glared at him as the other boy spun him around and pushed his back against the wall. "I don't know what your problem is, but you better get over it quickly." When Duo didn't back down, the guys glare got even colder. "You really want to get your ass kicked, don't you?"

Duo opened his mouth to respond, but no sound made it out since he didn't know what to say.

The rocker slammed his back into the wall again, making his head hit the hard surface with a loud smack. "You stay the fuck away from Wufei. This is your last warning before something bad is going to happen." Grabbing a tight hold of his shirt, the larger boy slammed him in to the wall once again, this time with a lot more force. "Do I make myself clear?" The boy hissed as Duo bit back a whimper of pain.

He wanted to protest, to explain, but instead he just nodded his head.

"Good." The muscular boy said before pushing him away. Duo's heart was beating wildly as he watched him walk away. He admitted, if only to himself, that he had been scared as hell.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"Hey, Duo, wanna play a few rounds with me?" Solo said as he tried unsuccessfully to make to basket ball spin on his finger.

"Not really," was the mumbled answer coming from the teenager slumping on the couch.

"No?" Solo almost dropped the ball in surprise. Duo never said no to whooping his ass all over the court, and he often complained that they never had time to do anything together since Solo was always working.

"Well, why not?" Solo sat down on the empty seat next to his little brother who was draped over the side of the couch with an empty look on his face.

"Don't feel like it." He sighed and picked some lint off the couch pillow closest to him. He dropped the lint into the growing pile right beside him, eyes not really focused on what he was doing. By the size of the pile, he had been sitting there for a while. Solo looked from the pile, up to Duo's face, to the pile and back again.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"Bull, come on Du-Du, tell me."

"Don't call me that." Duo mumbled, making Solo's mouth drop open in surprise. Duo had hated that nickname since he was five years old, and he had never done anything less than to hit him when he called him that. Until now that is, and Solo was now officially worried.

"Duo." He said in his serious voice. His brother sighed and rolled his head towards him. "It's just this guy..."

_'Oh, fuck'_ was Solo's first thought. He had fully accepted that his little brother was a flaming homosexual but that did not in any way make him prepared to give him any relationship advise. He prayed to god that he would never have to give Duo 'the talk' because he didn't know if his nerves could handle it. Duo was fifteen, guys didn't need the talk when they were fifteen... right? At least that was what he tried to convince himself.

Cold sweat made its way down his back as he tried to concentrate on being 'a cool big brother.' Someone you could trust and come to if you needed advise. Or maybe he was just trying not to panic. "Oh?" Was all he managed to say as he sat down on the couch next to him.

Duo was quiet, and Solo desperately wished that he had some gay friends that he could call or at least some female friends who could help him with this. There was a vicious battle going on inside of him where there were two sides fighting over what they wanted to happen. One side wanted Duo to say 'never mind' and save him from this situation, while the other wanted Duo to spill everything so that he could fix it.

The first side argued that he had no idea what he was doing and even less to say. Anything he said would probably come out as total shit, not to mention make him sound like a complete asshole.

The other side was screaming that Duo was the single most important person in his life, and he was going to do everything he could to make Duo's life go as smoothly as possible. Life had not been kind to his little brother, and if there was anything he could do to make it better, then he was going to work really hard to make it happen.

The two sides fought a grim battle until one side was victorious.

"Never mind." Duo mumbled and started to get up.

Solo took a hold of Duo's wrist and tugged him back down. "Oh no, you don't. Spill."

Duo sighed in a way that only a suffering teenager could. "Fine." He grumbled and leaned back.

"I met this guy like the second day I got here. He was like the nicest, sweetest guy, not to mention hot as hell."

Solo tried hard not to regret that he had spoken up. "And?"

"He goes to my school and share a few classes with me... but the first time I tried to talk to him, he just asked me what the fuck I was looking at and walked away. I tried again but... he didn't want to talk to me."

_'Oh god, what do I say?'_ Solo rolled one of his dreads between his fingers. "Well, sometimes people aren't what we think they are."

Duo shook his head. "No, he is that nice, I know he is. I can see it in his eyes." The younger boy said in a slightly dreamy tone.

Solo rolled his eyes when his brother wasn't looking but didn't say anything.

"It must be something that I did, I just don't know what I did. I hardly had time to open my mouth."

_'Oh, god, please don't let him have a crush on some homophobic asshole.'_ Solo thought in despair. "Maybe he was just having a bad day?"

"Yeah, maybe." The teen mumbled.

Duo leaned forward and put his hands over his face. "And I even made things worse today."

Solo really did not want to know, but he still found himself asking. "How?"

"I spilled milk on his dress. I didn't mean to, but he thought I did it on purpose, and then everyone was laughing, and he looked really sad, and my brain just got stuck, and I was like 'oops', I mean oops! Who says 'oops' when they do something like that? I wanted to say that I was sorry, but my tongue just kind of when 'urhh', and I was like 'noooo', and he just ran off, and then everyone was like 'great job that was brilliant,' fucking assholes, and he probably heard that too, and he's going to be sure that I did in on purpose, and he's never going to forgive me, and he is never going to want to talk to me, and then he is going to get his big scary friends to beat me up." Duo whined and pulled his knees up against his chest.

Solo could feel a head ache coming along. "Right, that's not good... wait, did you say dress?"

Duo smiled slightly. "Yeah, he had this really nice black dress where the top was almost like a corset with these red ribbons that criss-crossed in the back. The cool thing was that everything matched, from the lacing on the boots to the necklace and the lipstick. He looked, really, really beautiful." Duo sighed in longing, something that made Solo swallow awkwardly.

_'Oh, god. A transvestite. My brother is in love with a transvestite. This can not get worse, please god don't let this get any worse. Fuck, I am so totally going to fuck this up.'_

"That's nice." Solo said neutral.

"Yeah." Duo whispered sadly.

_'I am so bad at this.'_ Solo thought as he watched Duo's slumping shape next to him on the couch. _'What would mom do? Probably tell him that all the forces in the universe had lines drawn out before them. Give him a couple of colorful stones against evil spirits, and in the middle of all that new age babble, she would just blur out all the right answers. Yeah, that's what she would do.'_

Solo smiled slightly at the thought of their eccentric mother. But she wasn't with them, and she would never been here with them again, so it was up to him. Solo helplessly looked at his little brother and wondered what he could do. He didn't have any magical solution, and he didn't have any answers; instead he just put an arm around the teens shoulder. It wasn't much, but it was all he had.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N Next chapter should be out in a few days. Now please, please, pleeeease, tell me what you thought


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9 (Saturday)

Duo really was not in the mood for a party, but since he had promised Simon that he was going to be there, he was forced to go. That, and because he couldn't come up with a good enough excuse to get out of it. Saying "I'm down because the guy I have a crush on, the same guy that you all seem to hate, is mad at me" probably wouldn't work all that well.

Suppressing a sigh, he forced himself to smile at the drunk girl who was hanging all over him. They were sitting on the couch in Simon's parent's living room. The party was one of the biggest he had ever been to, the music was loud and the alcohol was flowing. To Duo, the suburban villa might as well have been hell.

He pretended to take a gulp from his beer bottle. The smell alone was enough to make him gag. He hated beer, it made his stomach act up, and the taste made him want to throw up. But when Simon pushed the bottle in to his hand as soon as he stepped through the door, he knew that he didn't have much choice. At least he wouldn't have to drink any of the stronger mixtures that were going around as long as he had the green bottle in his hand. Simon had offered him a glass of something amber coloured but he had just held up his beer bottle, indicating that he was going to finish it first. The glass then ended up on the table in front of him – for later.

Duo dreaded it.

He had taken a small sip of it only to almost spit it all over the carpet. He seriously didn't want to drink it, but he knew that he had to if he didn't want anyone pointing out that he had been sipping the same beer for more than an hour now.

Thank god for the small roll of mint that he found in his pocket. It didn't chase away all of the awful flavour, but it helped.

Some guy bumped into the side of the couch that he was sitting on. The drunk girl glared at the interruption, but Duo couldn't be happier. The girl's hand had steadily been travelling higher up his thigh, and Duo didn't know what do to make her stop. Removing the hand hadn't worked the last couple of times he tried and telling her that he was gay wasn't an option.

"Ey man, this you's?" The guy slurred, pointing at the still full glass standing among all the empty bottles on the table.

"Nah, feel free." He said with a grin as he silently hoped for liberation.

The guy slurred something that might have been a 'thanks' and swept the drink down in one gulp. The guy then tried to hold a conversation with him, something that Duo found a bit entertaining and more than a little disturbing since he could hardly understand a word. Worse, what he understood didn't make sense. He just nodded he head and said 'yeah' whenever the guy slurred out a 'you know.' But he was pleased to see that the girl was growing bored, eventually (finally!) stumbling away, closely followed by the drunk guy who had his eyes stuck on her ass.

Duo celebrated his victory with another piece of mint, swallowing it when no one was watching.

"Damn, Maxwell, what's up with you? She was all over you." Simon laughed as he leaned over the back of the couch.

Duo gave his friend a look over his shoulder. "Yeah, and in a few minutes, everything she had eaten today would have been all over me," he said carelessly. "Besides, god knows what I would have picked up. Probably would have made my dick black before it fell off."

Simon laughed and slapped him on the back. "Yeah, you're probably right. Can't be too careful around the sluts. Come on, let me introduce you to some of the better stock."

Duo made sure that he didn't look like he would rather swallow angry snakes dipped in motor oil and followed his friend.

Walking across the room, they side stepped what felt like the town's entire teen population before reaching a group of girls standing over by a large window facing the front lawn. "Hey, ladies. I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine. This is Duo, Duo this is Kimberly, Sandra and Helen."

"Hi." The girls echoed in the same breath as they smiled up at him. Duo fought the urge to run.

"I'll just leave you to it." Simon said with a wink before wandering of towards the kitchen, probably to get himself some more alcohol.

"So, are you on the basket team with Simon?" A blond skinny girl with enough make-up to kill numerous guinea pigs said with what he assumed was a flirty smile.

"Yeah."

The girls' smiles turned predatory.

That was only the beginning as the girls set out to be the one to take home the price. Meaning him. He flinched slightly when he was forced to tell them that "no, he did not have a girlfriend," and the girls closed in on him even more than before.

He tried to tune out the chattering around him and just smiled and nodded while the girls talked. He had no understanding for girls and was quite happy in that aspect to be gay. Wufei probably understood them a lot better since it seemed like he mostly had female friends.

Duo froze.

What if Wufei wasn't gay? What if it was just a rumour or what if he was bi-sexual? What if that bushy-haired girl really was his girlfriend? He had seen them hold hands a couple of times, but he wrote it of as they just being close friends. He would have to have a closer eye on his competition on Monday, yeah, that's what he would do.

Duo took a deep gulp of the bull piss, finally managing to finish his beer. He was quite proud of himself as he put the empty bottle down on the windowsill.

He barely had time to turn around before a presence materialized next to him. "Hey man, here, I saw that you needed something." Simon grinned and pushed a large glass with what looked like coke into his hand. But with Simon's insane need to play the perfect host, he knew that he wasn't that lucky.

"Thanks." He mumbled and took a sip. The acid-like taste of the liquid almost made him gag, but he forced it down, hoping that his face didn't tell how bad he thought it tasted.

"It's great, isn't it? It's my own mix." Simon went on and named all that things that he had poured into the swamp water Duo was holding. The only thing that Duo recognized was Vodka and some kind of gin, but it was only because of the name "Seagram gin" that he could guess that. He wondered if Simon had mixed all those things together just so that he would be able to list the complicated liquor names. Probably, because the girls looked really impressed, and one of them even followed Simon into the kitchen to get her own.

Duo forced himself to swallow yet another gulp, thinking that as soon as he got rid of it he wouldn't have to drink it any more.

The remaining girls were talking, and Duo managed to respond when they asked him how he liked it in town so far. Lying through his teeth, he told them about how much he liked it here and how nice the people living here were. The girls expressed their pleasure with his response before they started moaning about how they would rather live somewhere exiting and how much they hated their home town. Duo knew that he couldn't agree with them; it was okay for people who had been living there their whole life to complain, but as an outsider, he could get lynched for saying the same. He took another gulp from his drink. It actually didn't taste as bad as before. Unfortunately, he knew that it was when you started to like the way it tasted that it was affecting you. It was just too bad that there was more than half of it left, and he mentally cursed Simon for mixing his drinks in beer glasses.

After what felt like hours later, a voice called his name.

"Hey, Maxwell, you coming for a smoke?" Brian asked when he and another guy walked past him.

"Yeah, coming. I'll see you girls later." He said as he quickly followed his friends out on the porch. The cold air washed over him, but he was still so grateful to get out of there that he might even have given Brian a blowjob as a thank you. Duo sluggishly shook his head. The liquor was definitely affecting him. He did not want to give Brian a blow job, hell he didn't even know how to give one. The only sexual action he had ever been a part of was with his own hand. He hadn't even had the guts to experiment all the way.

He forced the last of the disgusting liquor down his throat and put the glass down on the plastic garden table standing next to Brian in the snow.

"You want a beer?" Brian asked and held one out to him. Duo nodded and took the brown bottle. At least with this in his hand he wouldn't have to drink any more of Simon's mixtures; it was also good that the bottle had another colour then his last one, that way no one would think that he was still nursing his first beer.

Duo sighed. If this kept up he was definitely going to end up drunk.

Brian offered him a cigarette, which he accepted. He bent down to the flame that his friend held out and lit it casually. Duo didn't like to smoke, but he knew how to make it look like he was smoking when he was just barely taking the smoke into his lungs. It was a useful trick in these kind of situations, and Duo once again found himself missing his old friends. They all knew him, and that he didn't have to put a fake front for them. Everyone was trying so hard to be cool that Duo could feel himself being pulled along. He unconsciously stretched his back and smoothly leaned back against the porch railing. He held the burning cigarette in a casual way that made it seem like he was a regular smoker. He didn't know why he was doing anything to impress all the self-absorbed kids around him.

He was trying to pay attention to the conversation, but he was just so bored with the whole party and all the people there. He tried to come up with some excuse so that he could leave, or maybe he could call Solo and ask him to give him a call so that he could pretend that there was some kind of emergency at home. But no, that would only make Solo worry about him, and he was stressed enough as it was with work and band rehearsals. His brother was trying so hard to make up for everything Duo's crappy foster parents had put him through, and Duo really didn't want to make it worse.

Brian wandered off, leaving with him with a bunch of guys who he had never met. He took another sip of his beer and tried to be a part of the conversation about the NBA and what team you most of all wanted to play in. Duo sighed. 'When you are drunk, most things seams reasonable and to the point, but when you are sober and surrounded by drunks, you know for a fact that most things that are being said are total idiocy.' He thought as he tried not to laugh in their faces. For fuck sakes, Michael Jordan had never played in the Indiana Pacers and he had not been sitting on the bench for his first year on the team. The guy fucking won the award for rookie of the year! A blond, who had been trying to dress like he was a hip hopper but ended up with something closer to 'my mom dressed me' was trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about - when it was obvious that he only knew who Jordan was through the 'Space Jam' movie. Duo didn't even try to correct all the bullshit they were spewing.

Some drunk guy stumbled over a railing and fell into a bush, making all the teenagers around him laugh hysterically. Duo took the chance to slip away.

He poured his beer out in the lawn, making it look like someone a taken a piss in the snow and placed the bottle on a flat stone next to a plastic flamingo. It was a nice garden, and Duo wandered around between what he could see of the once well-cared-for flowerbeds and the precisely cut bushes under the snow. He had never lived in a house, and he was a bit fascinated by the concept of having a backyard. The snow crunched under his feet as he walked.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-.-

"I'm leaving." Wufei declared and pulled his backpack up his shoulder.

His father looked up from the book he was reading. "Do you want me to drive you?"

Wufei gave his father a strange look. "I'm just going to Tiddy's, it's like a ten-minute walk."

"It's getting dark, and there are a lot of drunk people out at this time." He said with a worried look as he put a piece of paper in between the pages.

Wufei rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine."

His father hesitated. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, dad."

"Okay, but could you call me when you get there?"

Wufei groaned. "Daaaaad, I'm fifteen, not five."

"Please?"

"God, why? It's not like I haven't walked there before." He whined.

Worried eyes turned towards him. "Well, think about it like this, what if you leave the most valuable thing you have in the world lying outside on the road, and all you can do is hope that no one is going to hit it with their car?"

Wufei had a quick image of Albert sitting in the middle of the free way and felt a cold feeling in his stomach. "Fine, I'll call." He muttered before closing the front door behind him.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo almost jumped out of his skin when a hand landed on his shoulder.

"Wh't ya do'in?" Brian slurred behind him.

Duo wanted to groan. He had been enjoying the solitude while he had been exploring the snow covered garden in the dark.

"Just taking some air."

"Well com' on back in, we're gonna start wit' th' drinkin' games."

_'You really don't need any more to drink__,__ and I sure as hell don't want to play_.' Duo thought. "I'm not really into that, I'll pass for now."

"Damn boy, don't be such a fuck'n bore." Brian said and slapped him on the back. "Come on, let's go."

Duo breathed out a large cloud of steam and followed. Maybe he would get a chance to slip away while inside. He could tell him that he was going to that bathroom or something.

"Hey man, check it out, it's th' freak." Brian slurred and pointed at the naked skeleton of the hedge surrounding the house, towards the other side of the street.

Duo looked over with a feeling of dread. He could clearly see what he had been most afraid of as Wufei passed underneath a street light.

"I'm going to kick his faggot ass." Brian grumbled and made a move to climb through the hedge.

"Hey man, no. Come on let's go back inside." Duo said and took a hold of a muscular arm.

"No, I'm going to beat that little shit up. I hate his fucking faggot ass." Brian said and pulled his arm free.

Duo hoped that he could distract Brian long enough for Wufei to disappear down the street. But the other boy had barely just passed them and by the speed that he was walking in, Duo was going to have to work really hard to hold Brian back.

He took another hold of Brian's arm. "Come on, weren't the drinking games going to start now?"

"It won't take long." Brian leered.

"Brian, don't do it. Let's go back."

The muscular teen once again pulled himself loose. "Get you fucking hands off me, I'm going." With that he started pushing himself through the thick hedge.

Panicking, Duo took a hold of the other boy's shirt and pulled. Brian lost his footing and fell back in to the snow.

He got up as quickly as his drunken state could mange while cursing over the cold. "What the fuck is your problem?!" Brian roared as he shoved Duo in the chest.

Duo held his ground. "Leave him alone."

"Why the fuck are you standing up for that piece of shit?!" Brian shouted, pushing him again.

Duo held his hand out in a sign of peace. "Chill Brian, just give the guy a break would you."

The fist hit his stomach faster then he could react.

_'Shit_.' He thought as he saw Brian line up to hit him again. '_This is what I get for trying to play the hero.'_

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N

I got the question "Just how many hours in day are there in your world?" Since I've been updating so often... unfortunately I have to say that I don't have as many as I did last week. I went from being unemployed to working what feels like 24/7. So my updates will be slower from now on. Sorry... well I'm not -really- sorry since I will be able to pay my rent but still, sorry.

Please review –puppy eyes-


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 (Sunday)

"What about him?" Tiddy asked and nodded her head towards a somewhat skinny guy that was walking past them. They were sitting on the edge of the butt ugly statue standing in the middle of the mall. From there they had a perfect view over all the escalators and all the people passing by.

Wufei gave the guy a critical look. "Nice ass, but he's too short."

Trowa lifted an eyebrow. "Wufei, he's almost a head taller then you."

Wufei licked his dripping ice cream. "So? I like my men tall."

The emo shook his head. "I don't get it."

Tiddy laughed and leaned over to pet him on the head. "It's okay, we like you anyway."

Wufei gave his friend a twisted smile. "No one is perfect, and your biggest flaw is that icky straightness of yours."

Trowa's lips twitched in response. "Thanks." He said with a sarcastic tone.

"No problem." They answered in sync.

Trowa just rolled his eyes. "What about that one?" He asked and pointed towards the back of a tall teenager who was leaning against a pillar further away.

Wufei made a thoughtful sound. "Well, he's tall enough, and the ass is really nice but I can't really tell the rest because of the jacket. Too bad that I can't see the fac-" He cut himself off as the guy turned slightly, and Wufei realized just who he had been looking at. "Ewww, Trowa! You had me checking out the creep!"

"Well, I didn't do it on purpose." Trowa said with a chuckle.

Wufei grimaced. "I feel dirty." He shivered and threw his half eaten ice cream away.

Tiddy patted him on the shoulder in comfort. "Poor thing. Hey, I know. Maybe I can try to hit him with my gum." Her face split into an evil grin, and Wufei only took a second to respond with one of his own.

"Maybe if we go up one floor throw it over the edge. He's standing in a pretty clear area so it shouldn't be so hard to hit him."

Tiddy giggled in excitement. "Or even better, I can pour what's left of my soda over him. It'll be great, come on!"

They got up, Trowa a bit more reluctant then the other two. "Are you really going to do this?" He asked as he followed the excited pair.

"Why not?" Tiddy called over her shoulder as she took the first two steps of the stairs in one jump.

"Well for one, you are acting like bullies."

Wufei stumbled on one of the steps and came to a stop. He suddenly looked a lot less sure of himself.

Tiddy's shirt fluttered in big waves as she turned around to look down at her friend at the bottom of the stairs. "It's not bullying if he's the one who started it. You  
know what he's like, and you can't say that he doesn't deserve it."

Wufei sucked on his lip ring. "I don't know Tiddy, he got a point."

Tiddy rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to kill him, for fuck sakes. Come on! It's so fitting, I mean he poured milk all over your dress, and it's going to cost a fortune to get it clean. This." She shook her paper cup so that the ice clinked together. "Is just going to be uncomfortable."

Wufei hesitated. "I guess."

"Well, I don't care if the two of you are chickening out because I'm going to do it anyway," she said and started to run up the stairs. Wufei released his lip ring from his mouth and followed.

"I hope you don't regret this." Trowa called out after him.

By the time he had gotten up the stairs, Tiddy had already gotten the lid off and was looking down at the creep, trying to aim just right.

"A bit more to the left, closer to the pillar, and you are going to hit him right in the head," He said as he eyed the boy underneath them in distaste.

Tiddy grinned. "This is going to be great. Get ready to run because here it goes." She said before tipping the paper cup over the edge. It only took a second before a shocked scream echoed through the mall. The two friends laughed in triumph before running. Giggling like mad, they hid in one of Victoria's secrets fitting rooms.

"That was great." Tiddy said in excitement. "I wish I could have seen it."

Wufei smiled. "Me too."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duo was bored. Bored, bored, bored. If there was anything he hated, then it was to stand around waiting for Solo to show up.

Duo groaned. This day was going from bad to worse every single second. He was so sick of all this. He missed his friends, he missed his team and his coach. He missed his foster mother, and he even found himself missing his foster father even if he had been a bastard most of the time. He missed his home, his room, his school (how ever strange that was), he missed his whole town.

He loved Solo, and he really liked living with him, but he was so sick of being in this place. People here were so mean and stupid that he just wanted to scream. The only thing that was good about it besides Solo was Quatre who was turning out to be a great friend and his dark angel. But on the other hand, Quatre was so busy most of the time that he rarely saw him outside of class, and Wufei was so far from his that it wasn't even funny. The world was against him, he just knew it.

Leaning back in the pillar, he absently fingered the bruises on his stomach that Brian had given him. It was almost too bad that Wufei hadn't been aware of his heroics, then he might at least talk to him.

The fight hadn't lasted that long since a couple of guys had separated them, but he had still been hurting like hell, because Brian was one strong bastard that didn't pull his punches. But at least the fight had given him an excuse to go home and with some luck, he had even managed to get away before any of the girls decided to play nursemaid.

Brian had been embarrassed when he called him up a few hours ago to apologize. He explained that he was a mean drunk and that he was sorry for taking it out on him. It was obvious that he really did regret the fight. Duo didn't want to make a big deal out of it, and he was quite pleased with the shiner that most likely was going to grace Brian's left eye for quite a while. So in the end, he figured that they were even.

Duo sighed and kicked the back of his sneaker against the pillar. Solo had suggested that they should take a trip in to town and finally get Duo some new boots. The company that Solo worked for had made some huge deal with a German company, and to celebrate it, they had given all their employees a bonus. Since Solo was working in the warehouse driving a fork truck, he hadn't gotten as much money as say, one of the office people, but it was enough to get Duo something for his feet. '_Walking around in sneakers in the middle of the winter sucks so fuc-_'

His thoughts were interrupted as a cold shower fell over him, and he yelled out his shock as the freezing liquid made its way down his back. The unmistakable sound of laughter could be heard from above, telling him that this had not been an accident. Some people around him were snickering; a few straight out laughing, while a young mother with a twin in ether hand asked him if he was alright.

Duo didn't trust his own voice to answer; he just stormed out of the mall as fast as he could. The sticky liquid that he quickly identified as soda had drenched his shirt making it stick to his skin under the jacket. It was dripping down from his hair, down onto his naked neck.

He was sure that all this was going to be all over school tomorrow, and Duo clenched his fists. He wanted nothing more then to go home and hid in his room. Instead, he took the bus back to Solo's apartment.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Fumbling with the keys, Duo finally managed to get the door open. He barely paused to slam the door close, before hurrying to the bathroom. Turning the shower on, Duo threw his jacket to the floor before stepping in to the shower with his clothes still on. The spray beat down on him harshly, and Duo sank down to the floor with his knees drawn up to his chest. Duo didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but it seamed like his tears would never stop. The water started to become cold, but Duo couldn't make himself move, instead he just shivered and curled up tighter.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Solo breathed out a sigh in relief when he saw that the front door was un-locked. Duo wasn't answering his phone, and he had been afraid that he had really pissed off his brother for real this time.

It was just so hard to say no at work when you were at the bottom of the food chain. You drove a fork lift and stacked boxes, anyone could do your job, and they could do it without the dreads.

He had promised himself that he wasn't going to sink so low as to cut his hair just to get money. It was enough that he had turned down a job as a backup singer, because with a teenage kid, you weren't free to tour. What's more, it didn't pay as well as packing frozen food.

He had almost been out the door when his boss had called him back to ask if he could fill out some delivery orders. The way she said it had made it clear that she expected Solo to do it, never mind that it was Sunday afternoon and never mind that it was actually her job to fill out those papers.

Solo had just nodded and gotten back to work. His cellphone couldn't get a signal in the basement where he worked, but while taking a quick break, he ran outside to call Duo. Unfortunately, he had only gotten Duo obnoxious voice mail where an Arnold Schwarzenegger imitator told him to leave a message and he would 'be back.'

By the time he was done and out the door, Duo still hadn't called back. Solo tried to call him again only to be meet by an emotionless Schwarzenegger. He was getting a bit worried because Duo was almost pedantic with his phone, and he always had it loaded, turned on and with him.

But since he was sure that he had locked the door before he left for work, he now knew where his lost brother was located. "Duo?" He called out as soon as he stepped through the door. Silence was his only response.

He walked further in until he heard that the shower was on full blast. "I'm sorry I was late, but I tried to call... Duo?" He knocked gently on the door. "Hey, D. I'm really sorry, I didn't do it on purpose."

Silence.

He hesitated before pressing down the door handle. The door opened smoothly without a sound. "Duo?" At first he thought the room was empty, then he saw the dark bundle through the glass.

Panic like nothing he had ever felt before rushed through him, and he ripped the glass door open.

Red veined eyes looked up at him, and Solo couldn't help but breath out a sigh of relief. At least he was alive. The relief was short lived as Duo turned his eyes back down to his raised knees without a sound.

Solo reached in and turned the lukewarm water off.

"Duo? What's wrong?" He asked as he hunched down. Duo didn't answer him, he just curled up tighter against the tiles. Ignoring how the water was soaking through his jeans Solo got down on his knees and crawled over to pull his little brother close to his chest.

He took it as a good sign when Duo only fought him a little bit. "Hey now, what's wrong?"

Duo turned his face away. "I-it'ss st- stupid."

"I don't care."

"I'm stupid."

"No."

Duo snuffled. "I don't want to be here any more, I want it to stop, I want all of it to leave me alone. I want to go home."

Solo tried not to let the words hit him, he knew Duo didn't mean to hurt him, but it still did. It felt like he had failed his brother. "What happened?"

Duo sighed wetly but did not answer him.

Deciding that it was probably best to get out of the shower before the both of them ended up sick, he wrapped an arm around the boy's waist. "Come on, let's get up and get some dry clothes on."

Duo didn't protest.

After herding him into the dark bedroom, Solo found some comfortable cotton pants and a large t-shirt. A t-shirt that he recognized to be on of his own, but one that he thought that he had lost years ago.

As he pulled up the edge of Duo's soaked sweater the silent boy suddenly came to life. "I can dress myself!" He squeaked in horror as a blush spread over his face.

Solo suppressed a smile over teenage shyness and backed off. "Ok, I'll be in the kitchen."

Duo nodded almost frantically, making drops of water rain down on the floor.

Deciding that this mess called for some serious comfort, he got the Chai tea out. The Indian tea had been their mother's ultimate solution to heartbreaks and all other problems. That was probably why the smell always reminded his of his first ex-girlfriend.

"Solo." A scratchy voice spoke from behind him. He turned around and looked at his slumping brother who looked absolutely heartbroken. "I killed my phone in the shower." He mumbled sadly and held out the dripping piece of technology.

Solo suppressed a sigh. Just what they needed, more expenses. "It's okay D, I'll get you a new one."

Duo shook his head. "I don't need one, or I'll get a job or something, you don't have to pay for it."

'_Hell no.' _His brother was not going to waste away working a shitty low-paying job. He was going to enjoy his teenage years, go to school and do what ever he wanted with the rest of his life. "No, I'll get you one. It may not be new but as long as it works right?"

Duo nodded and wrapped his arms around himself. Solo took the pan off the stove and walked over to Duo. Carefully leading him over to the couch, he pushed the boy down on the pillows.

Sitting down next to him he waited to see if Duo was going to tell him on his own. There were no words coming, only shallow breaths and shivers. "Tell me." He insisted.

That was all the encouragement Duo needed. "It was just some jerk who poured soda over me at the mall. It's not a big deal but it just got..." Duo trailed off helplessly.

Solo couldn't help but smile. "Too much negative energy pushing on your aura," he said, quoting their mother.

Duo smiled slightly. "Yeah, exactly."

"People are mean and stupid, and we hope they all get reborn in to ants."

Duo reworded him with a small laughter. "Ants are cool... they should be reborn in to mosquitoes. Everyone hates those."

"Yeah." They sat in silence for a while until Solo's conscience started lurking in the background. He didn't want to say anything, but he had sworn to himself that he was going to put Duo first. Work, the band, the love life, anything. This also included his selfish wishes. If Duo didn't want to stay, then he wasn't going to force him. "Do you want to go back?"

Duo blinked in question.

Solo forced himself to go on. "If you do, I- I could call them... they would probably let you come back."

Realization made Duo's eyes go wide the second before he screamed out a frantic "NO!" as his fingers took a iron grip on Solo's "Tony's fast food deliverance" shirt. "I didn't want to go back to them, I don't, I just, I just – just wanted to go back to before things got so hard, why does everything have to be so hard? "

Solo sighed. "I don't know." He said and pulled his little brother up side ways in his lap, or his not so little brother he quickly realized. When had Duo gotten so big? Where did the long haired little imp who always wanted to ride on his back go? "Life just gives you shit sometimes." ´A_ lot of shit in your case´ _he added silently.

"I'm not a kid." Duo muttered as he fussed stubbornly in Solo's lap.

Solo tightened his grip. "Humor me, would you? Please?"

Duo nodded and tucked his face in under his chin.

Solo could feel himself start to relax, and not for the first time he wondered who was really comforting who.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N

Ha! I got the chapter out! I feel goooood :)

Now I have to go catch the bus.

I will be eternally grateful if you took the time to review. Please?


	11. Chapter 11

Happy birthday Aniratac! (it's not done, but you can't say that you are surprised, can you?) To celebrate this day, I'll be posting two chapters. We are closing in on the end, just three more updates after this.

Chapter 11

The next few days, Wufei tried his very best to ignore the creep. He refused to show him how much destroying his dress had hurt him. _'I'm going to nail him with my high heals if he tries anything. Hell, I should have done it right away._' He thought in annoyance.

It was just too bad that all the things that you wanted to do and say always came to you when it was far too late to do it.

He shouldn't have run. He should have looked up and told him what a fucking loser he was for trying to win popularity points by pushing others around. Should have sneered at him before kicking him in the crouch again. He should have kept walking, ignoring the mess. He should have poured his own glass of water down the idiots pants so that the fucker could walk around all day looking like he peed his pants. He should have slapped him. Should have accused him of wanting to see him naked. Should have made some use of all that Karate training and put him in an arm lock, force him down on his knees, twist his arm until the bastard cried in pain and make him apologize in front of everyone.

Wufei sighed.

Instead he had run away like a child and hid in the bathroom to cry his eyes out. He could hardly believe that he let the creep get to him like this. Shouldn't you get used to this kind of treatment? Shouldn't you just go numb?

He almost wanted to be as apathetic as his friend Shawn. But no, Shawn wasn't as uncaring as you could think, and he had the the self-inflicted scars to prove it.

Shawn had been a really happy kid in kindergarten, but when he met him again years later after transferring to Wufei's school, it had taken him weeks before he figured out why he recognized him. Because one thing was for sure, there wasn't much left of that happy kid. Instead was an apathetic, emotionally-stunned boy who used razors to be able to feel anything. They had tried to help him, tried to at least get some professional help, but the boy would just look at them before walking away. Shawn didn't hang out with the rest of them as much as before. All because of idiot bullies who were too fucking messed up to find something better to do than destroy other people. Wufei hated them all.

He was ripped from his dark thought as Tiddy hugged him from the back.

"Hey, babe. Want to come play in the snow with me?"

Wufei snickered. "God, you sound like a five year old."

Tiddy poked him in the ear, making him flinch violently. "Do not, come on, let's go build snow men."

Wufei smiled and let himself be lead away. Thank god that he had his friends, they would make sure that he never ended up that way.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

The rest of the day dragged on in a mindless jumble that never seemed to end. Duo wished that he had the guts to put his head down on the desk and sleep his way through it all. The only bright moments had been when he had seen a quick flash of Wufei during gym class.

They were playing hockey, a game that Duo kind of knew the rules of, but had done everything he could to win. It wasn't just the fact that he was a competitive person, or the bet he had made with Simon over who's team was going to win. No, it was all because of the few seconds he got to spend on the other team's side of the rink.

Duo had worked hard on getting the puck into the goal so that he quickly could look over to the other side of the nearby football field where Wufei and his friends were building snow men.

Wufei really looked like a dark angel where he was walking around in the ankle deep snow with his long black coat billowing behind him in the freezing wind. Duo wanted to throw his hockey stick to hell for a chance to join in even though he knew that he wasn't welcome. The other boy had looked so carefree, and his happy laughter sent all Duo's senses to overload. But he really should have known better then to let his mind wander during a highly-testosterone-filled game.

Wufei was tackled by a tall emo boy, and the both of them tumbled down in to the snow with the other guy lying all over his angel. A second later, Duo was flying head first in to the rink, as he too was tackled. The helmet made a sickening sound as it hit the wooden wall, and pain radiated from his unprotected knees as they slammed in to the ice. Duo was not having a very good day.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Duos knees were almost black with bruises, and Solo gave them an impressed whistle when he saw them.

"Shit, what did you do D? Get hit by a car?" He asked as he looked down on the boy sitting on the couch with his pant legs rolled up as high as they could go.

Duo sighed and rubbed the edge of on of the bruises. "No, I didn't pay attention and got tackled during a hockey game. Did I ever mention that I'm grateful that you taught me how to skate? Because I am; today would have sucked even worse than it already did if I hadn't known how." Duo sighed.

Solo paused and took a closer look on his little brother where he was curled up with his knees up against his chest. "Did anything else happen today? Is everyone treating you alright?"

Duo looked miserable. "As good as you could expect when he hates my guts."

Solo didn't have to ask who 'he' was since he had heard quite a lot about Wufei Chang, thank you very much.

Everything from how dark his eyes were to how Wufei would never ever ever even look at him because the other boy apparently hated his little brother more than anything. Solo suppressed a sigh over the melodramatic performance that only a love sick teenager could play out. Had he been as bad as Duo when he had been a teenager? He couldn't have been. Then he remembered Sara Addams and her big green eyes and realized that he just might have been worse.

He moved to sit down on the couch where Duo was curled up. He didn't know why Duo always ended up there whenever something went wrong, but it did make his job a lot easier because he never had to try to figure out if something was wrong. He just had to see if Duo was slumped over the side of the couch to know.

He took a deep breath and tried to come up with something fitting to say. It was times like these that he really missed their mother. She would have known what to say while Solo was just fumbling in the dark. Most of the time, Duo and he had more of a friend-friend relationship than a parent-child relationship.

He was nineteen when their mother had died while Duo was just eight. By then, Duo's father was long gone, while his own had never been an issue in the first place. Duo had ended up in foster care since he was going to college on the other side of the country. Because of the physical constraints, they hadn't seen each other that often. That didn't mean that he hadn't fought like hell to get custody over Duo, but now that he had, he hardly knew what to do with all that responsibility. On most days, they worked together to make everything work, but it was times like this when Duo needed his support that he felt a bit lost. He tried not to let it show and he hoped that he wasn't going to give Duo the need of years of therapy.

He leaned back and watched Duo pull at the end of his hair like he always did when he really wanted to twist his braid around his hand. Solo had been devastated when Duo got back from the hairdresser with his braid in a plastic bag. He had tried to warn him that he was going to regret it, but Duo didn't listen. But what teenager ever does?

His brother was just trying to fit in. It wasn't all that strange, everyone did it. They tried different things, they experimented, hoping to find friends, belonging, love.

Solo silently cursed Duo's homosexuality. Didn't the kid have enough problems as it was? Did he really have to be shunned for falling in love too? Not that he would ever breathe a word about it out loud. Duo needed all the support he could get, and Solo was going to do everything he could to give it to him.

He pulled Duo's fingers away from his hair. The skin in the back of his neck was turning red from all the pulling, and Solo suppressed the urge to start pulling at his own hair. It seemed that bad habits ran in the family. "What happened?"

Duo shrugged. "Nothing happened." He mumbled and raised his hand towards his hair again. Solo batted his hand away. "Come on, tell me what happened."

Duo sighed. "Nothing happened. That's the problem, I walked around all day and nothing happened."

Solo didn't say anything, he just waited to it.

"He didn't even look my way! Usually, he would at least glare at me, and I would know that he knows that I exist. But today it was like I was air, no, less than air. Air is useful, I was like carbon dioxide. Only plants have any use for me, I should just move in to the forest." Duo whined in a pathetic voice.

Solo rolled his eyes at the drama queen act. "It's winter, there are no plants in need right now."

"Then, I'm totally useless." Duo groaned and tipped over to hide his face in the couch pillows.

Praying for strength, Solo responded in what he hoped was a comforting voice. "It can't be that bad."

"He wouldn't spit on me if I were on fire. He wouldn't press the stop button if I fell into a meat grinder, he wouldn't even feed me moldy bread if I were starving." Duo mumbled in to the seat.

Solo bit back his first response which would have been, "For fuck sakes! Have a crush on a nice guy then!" but he took a deep breath and reminded himself that he loved his brother even if he was a whiny bitch. "Well, basically you have two options then. You can forget about him and find someone else, someone who appreciates you or you can keep trying."

_'Please find someone else.' _Solo mentally begged.

Duo didn't say anything, he just rolled over to press his face in to the back rest with his knees still up against his chest. Solo sighed and stroked his little brother's stylishly shaped hair before leaving him alone to think.


	12. Chapter 12

(Just so you know it, I posted two chapters at the same time so you might want to read chapter 11 first.)

Chapter 12 (Tuesday)

Wufei felt them looking at him before he saw them. They were standing further down the otherwise empty corridor, looking at him, laughing at him. A quick count told him that there were five of them and that all of them were in the usual crew that liked to give him shit. He had a very bad feeling about this.

Wufei straightened his back and schooled his face not to show any emotions. He'd rather die than give them the satisfaction of seeing how scared he was and how much their words hurt. Who ever said 'sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me' must have lived a pretty sheltered life or at least never gone to high school.

"Hey, Miss Chang," one of them called out.

"Fuck off," was out of his mouth before he could stop himself. There were far too many of them to aggravate, that would only lead to bad, bad things that he tried not to think about.

"Better watch your step there, Simon, I think she's having her period." Brian Jefferson's familiar voice rang out.

"Must be why she's such a bitch all the time. Hey faggot, I'm talking to you!"

He did his best to ignore them as he tried to walk away. He didn't get far as one of them stepped in his way. He made a quick move to get away, but more people joined in and he was surrounded.

He didn't see the first push coming, so he didn't have a chance to brace himself before hitting the row of lockers head on. The world tilted for a second as his head was slammed into the hard unforgiving metal.

They were taunting him, calling him the same things that they had been calling him for years.

Someone moved to punch him in the stomach, and he managed to twist enough so that the guy didn't hit him straight on. It still hurt, but he could still breathe in short gasps through the pain.

There wasn't much use fighting back when he was this outnumbered. It just made them angry. It was better to try to make himself as small as possible, wait it out and hope that they didn't go on for too long.

A strong hand was gripping the front of his t-shirt and lifting him up on his toes. The seams protested, and he could feel the edge of the shirt biting into the back of his neck. His hands tried uselessly to make the larger boy let go, something that was only meet with laughter.

He could barely hear Brian's voice through the ringing in his ears, but he could see the cruel smile and the heartless look in his eyes.

Pain spread through his head, starting at the side of his temple as a punch made his head snap back. Brian let go of his shirt, but he didn't get any time to feel relief before someone came in from the side with a fist to his waist. The punch wasn't as strong as the others, and for a second Wufei wondered if all of his attackers really wanted to hit him or if any of them might have some kind of conscience. But as he watched them laugh through his ruffled hair, he decided not to care, actions speak louder then words and he hated every single one of them.

Another punch made his knees give out, and he fell to the floor. He tried to get up, but a well-placed kick to his chest made him gasp and roll up to protect himself. Why had he gone this way when he knew that he was going to be alone? Class had already started, and there was no one there to help him. Their words washed over him with the same intensive pain as as their fists had delivered.

Only for things to get worse as he saw the door open and, the Creep walked in to join his tormentors. He struggled up to his feet while trying to hold the pain in by shear will. He could feel -his- eyes on him, and he looked up to glare at wide blue eyes. Brian had an arm over the Creeps shoulders and was welcoming him to their fun. Wufei took the chance to escape while their attention had shifted. He hurried away with as much dignity that he could manage.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

It didn't take many seconds for Duo to figure out what the rest of the guys found so amusing. Burning black eyes glared at all of them as if trying to kill them by will alone. Through his stupor, Duo felt an arm being thrown over his shoulder and a laughing voice speaking to him from somewhere far away. His stomach rolled when he noticed the arm that Wufei held protectively over his chest and how blood was slowly falling down the side of his face from the rough looking cut in his artfully-shaped eyebrow. Wufei's black shirt was wrinkled in the front, and there was an angry red line on the sides and the back of his neck like someone had pulled him forward.

The hate rolling off the shorter boy almost made him take as step back before Wufei marched off.

Brian made a move to follow him, but Duo caught him by the arm. "What just- what, why?"

Brian shrugged. "The little shit needed to learn not to stick his nose up."

Duo almost shuddered at the indifferent tone. "But why?"

"What? It's not like it's a big deal. The freak just needs to be put in his place every now and then. The little fucker always walks around like he fucking owns the place." Brian said before laughing. "Banging his head into a locker usually works wonders." The rest of the guys joined the laughing as they took a trip down memory lane, bringing up all the other times that they had done just that.

Duo felt sick, they were talking about it like it was a sport, like they had done the right thing. He could have guessed it about Brian, but Heero and the rest of the guys, no way. He left, ignoring their questions on where he was going and headed towards the direction where the gothic boy had disappeared.

He almost missed the dark shadow hiding in a dark corner by the stairs. Wufei was crying quietly where he was leaning heavily against the wall. His shaky hands left dark smudges on his face as he quickly dried his tears away before they even had time to really fall.

Duo wanted nothing more then to comfort him, but he knew that his presence wasn't welcome. He hurried away, looking for someone who was. The corridors were mostly empty, but after a while his eyes landed on a short emo boy leaning against the wall further away.

"Hey." He called out as he got closer.

The boy gave him an empty look through his hanging hair.

Duo pulled at the hair in the back of his neck. "You're a friend of Wufei right?" He thought that he had seen the guy hanging around Wufei not too long ago.

The guy shrugged.

'_Good enough_.' Duo thought. "He needs a bit of help, maybe you could find that friend of his, you know the girl with the bushy hair."

The boy's empty gaze turned slightly suspicious. "So what did you do to him?" He asked in an emotionless voice."

Nothing! I just-"

The emo snorted and pushed away from the wall. "Yeah, whatever. I'll find her."

"Thanks, he's over by the stairs." Duo called out in reply after the other boy who didn't acknowledge him in any way. Duo sighed and started to walk away. He had done all he could do.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Trowa closed the door to the bathroom where Tiddy was cleaning the cut in Wufei's eyebrow and turned to Shawn who was casually fingering the long line of self inflicted cuts on his forearms.

"Who told you where to find him, and don't tell me that it was 'some guy' again."

Shawn shrugged with an apathetic look in his eyes. "Some jock guy, I don't know. They all look the same to me."

"How did he look?" Trowa asked slowly.

The emo jawed. "Tall, brown hair."

Trowa shook his head. "Right, that just fits half of them."

Shawn shrugged again before nonchalantly wandering off without a word to join his equally apathetic-looking girlfriend.

Trowa wanted to know who had done it. No one messed with his friends if he could help it. But Shawn was no help, and Wufei wasn't going to let them help anytime soon. The idiot was far too proud for that. He turned to Jason who was standing next to the door like a huge intimidating guard dog, making sure that no one disturbed those inside the bathroom.

"How is he?" The muscular boy asked.

Trowa sighed and walked over to lean against the wall next to him. "A bit shaken and bruised but other then that." He shrugged his shoulders in an unintentional copy of Shawn. "You know Wufei, never willing to play the victim."

The larger boy sighed. "So he's not going to tell us anything, is he?"

"No."

Jason nodded. "I'm going to ask around a bit in case someone saw something."

"Good luck, because I really want to have a few words with the people who did this."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

When Trowa came back from his next class, Jason was waiting for him over by his locker.

"Did you find them?" Was the first thing out of his mouth.

"Not all of them." Jason said and pushed the thick leather bracelets further down on his wrists. "Well, apparently no one saw when it happened, but I asked my sister who asked her friends, who asked their boyfriends and one of them had seen that new guy, you know the basket player, talking to Shawn."

Trowa cursed. "I should have known."

"That bastard has had his eyes on Wufei ever since he showed up here." Jason said with a grim look on his face.

"That's probably why he refused to tell us anything, he didn't even tell Tiddy. He probably doesn't want us to know that he's scared of him."

Jason grimaced. "I've already threatened him once but it doesn't look like it made any difference."

Trowa shook his head. "We'll deal with him."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

With a gasp, Wufei sat straight up in his bed. Panting hard, he looked around the dark room, and he quickly reached out to switch on the lamp on top his bedside table. The pale light did little, if nothing, to chase away the fear that was lingering in him. Throwing the cover of himself, he hurried across the room to switch on the light in the ceiling. Feeling slightly better, he turned back to his bed.

He couldn't stop himself from remembering the dream that had woken him up. Blood-splattered tile walls, pain, laughter… and there, in the back, hiding among the shadows was the looming shape of the Creep.

Wufei shivered as he got in to the bed and pulled his Tokio Hotel bed cover up over his naked shoulders. It didn't make any sense, but he found himself more afraid of the Creep than of any of his other tormentors. It was just something about the way that he stood there in the back, just staring at him. He could see it in his eyes that he was planing to do something to him, and Wufei was afraid.

He never joined the taunting, he never laughed, he never hit, he never threatened. He just stood there, looking at everything like he was just waiting for the right time to do something worse, far worse then any of the others could ever dream of doing.

Just the size of him was enough to make Wufei want to run. He used to like taller guys, but now all he could think about was how he wanted a boyfriend that would fit under his chin. Wufei hit his fist down on the madras. He would be so pissed if the creep had managed to destroy his taste in men.

The wall wasn't quite closing in on him, but he felt so very alone. If he had been a few years younger, he would have sneaked in to his parents' room to sleep in between them. Instead, he got to his feet again with the cover still wrapped around him and walked over to the cage on top of his dresser. Albert blinked sleepily up at him when he lifted the roof off her wooden house.

"Hey, darling." He whispered.

The hamster lifted her head slightly to sniff the air.

Wufei carefully lifted the small body up in his hand. He brushed away some sawdust off her fur before settling her against his bruised chest and pulling the cover over the both of them. She was making small almost cooing hamster noises, and Wufei could feel himself starting to relax.

Back in his bed, he crawled in between cooling sheets with Albert tucked in under his chin. The hamster was a bit restless at first, but she soon calmed down and settled down half way under his pillow, next to his throat. He petted her head slowly, making sure not to put too much pressure on her ears since he knew that she didn't like that.

Together they fell into an untroubled sleep.

-:-:--:-:-:-:-:-:-

That was all for now, please review. Pleeeeease?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 (Wednesday)

Duo wanted to be strong enough to never be seen together with any of his idiot friends again. He didn't even want to talk to Quatre, even if the other boy hadn't been a part of the assault. But the blond didn't seem to understand why he was so upset. He though it was shitty that the guys had outnumbered Wufei, but other than that, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it and couldn't understand why Duo got angry when he said so.

Duo had managed to stay away from all of them for the rest of the day, but his determination started to waver by the second day. Duo wasn't used to being alone, and he sure as hell didn't like it. He was a social creature that was drawn to people, isolating himself therefore went against his nature.

So the next morning, when Quatre walked up to him with his usual 'Hey Duo' like he had totally forgotten their argument, it was hard not to fall back. Then when the rest of them came along, and they were all acting like usual, laughing, joking and being the great friends that he had gotten used to, it was a losing battle. It didn't take long before he found himself once again surrounded by the rest of the guys, acting like he always did around them. He wanted to hate them, but he realized that he wasn't strong enough to break away.

It was hard to remember that they were the same people who had hurt Wufei – at least it was until they started to taunt and laugh when Wufei breezed by them with a band-aid above his eye and a dark bruise over the side of his face. Duo had been mortified to stand silently like a complete coward next to his crush's tormentors. He was so ashamed of himself, but at the same time, he was too scared to do something about it. So in the end he just stood there, hating himself.

Wufei didn't even glance his way when he walked past him. Duo's eyes briefly landed on the tall dark rocker who was walking a few steps behind Wufei. The boy that he heard several people refer to as the 'psycho killer' and also the same guy that had threatened him to stay away from Wufei just a few days ago. Their eyes meet and the dark skinned boy slowly ran a finger over his own neck in a clear message. He was a dead man.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei stood still as Tiddy carefully checked the band aid.

"It's a bit loose on one side. Do you want to change it?" She asked.

Wufei shook his head. It had taken him ages to get the thing to stop bleeding this morning, and he didn't want to repeat that experience right before the first class.

"Hey, you guys!" A happy voice called from the end of the hall. They looked up to see their quite sun-burnt friend coming towards them.

Tiddy grinned. "Hilde! You're back! How was Greece?"

The short haired girl smiled. "Like its men. Hot."

Wufei slid next to his friend and wrapped an arm around her waist. "Oooh, tell me more."

Hilde smiled. "You should come over and see the pictures I took. There was this one guy named Paolo who you are just going to die to see."

"Looking forward to it. But when did you color your hair, it looks awesome. I love the color." Wufei eyed the taller girls head.

She ran a hand through her short blue hair. "Nice huh? I did it yesterday. Man, my mom threw a fit like you wouldn't believe when she saw it."

Wufei snorted. "Been there done that."

"Your dad still giving you problems about your clothes?"

"Not so much now days, I think he's getting used to them. He just doesn't want me to wear clothes with skulls or anything like that when we visit Granma, something I totally agree on. Because if I have to listen to another lecture about how Jesus is going to save my soul if I just stop my evil ways, I just might punch the old hag."

Tiddy snickered. "I so totally want to meet your grandmother."

Wufei shook his head. "Believe me, you don't. She's like the definition of a bitch."

"She really think you're a Satanist?" Hilde asked as she threw a arm around his shoulders.

Wufei snorted. "Yeah, I've gotten several sermons on how the devil was going to welcome my soul in hell. I'm telling you, I thought I had a pretty good imagination, but I got nothing compared to her."

Hilde laughed. "What?"

"She goes on to this really detailed description of how my bones are going to melt in the lava pits and how worms will crawl down my mouth to eat me from the inside while crows will pick my eyes out for all eternity."

"Ewwwwww." Tiddy and Hilde echoed together.

"That's just the beginning, because then she gets even worse. Can you imagine trying to eat while she's talking about maggots and burning flesh?" Wufei said with a grimace.

"I'll pass, thanks. What happened to you by the way?" Hilde asked and touched the edge of the band-aid on Wufei's eyebrow.

"You just noticed?" Tiddy snorted. "Man, you're a worse than I am. He got beat up again, isn't it obvious?"

"Oh no, are you okay Wufei?" Hilde asked as she stopped to hug him.

Wufei just sighed. "I'm fine, don't worry. Come on let's go to class."

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"The bastard is here again," Tiddy's voice woke him up from his daydream where he had Bill Kaulitz from Tokio Hotel down on his knees, wearing only a leash and a smile. Completely back into the real world, he groaned, silently cursing Tiddy for both her timing and for making him aware of the creep. He hide his face under his crossed arms, barely missing to dip his spiked hair into Tiddy's mashed potatoes.

Hilde looked from Tiddy to Wufei and back again. "Care to let those-of-us-that-have-been-away-and-missed-the-latest-gossip in on who you are talking about?" She said and put her fork down next to her plate.

"Wufei's nemesis."

Hilde snickered. "You have a nemesis?" She asked and leaned over the table to poke Wufei in the shoulder.

"Something like that." Wufei mumbled from under his arms.

"So who is it? Brian?" She looked around the cafeteria, tying to catch a sight of the enemy.

Tiddy snorted. "No, surprisingly not. This one is worse. You see that new guy over there with the basket players? The one in the red and blue sweater?"

Hilde turned her head in a nonchalant looking movement. "What? The one playing with his fork?"

Tiddy nodded and sent a heated glare over at the basket team. "Yeah, that's the one."

The short haired girl frowned. "Are you serious? That's Duo, Solo's little brother."

Hilde gave her an empty look. "Who?"

"You know Solo. The singer in my boyfriend's band."

"What? The tall, nice one with the dreads? Shit, too bad the brother didn't follow in his footsteps. That one is a real asshole." Tiddy said as she sent a hateful look over to the unsuspecting basket player.

Hilde tapped a finger against the table. "I don't know. I mean, I've talked to him a couple of times when he came over to the rehearsal. He seemed really nice."

Tiddy pushed her tray away, making the dishes clink together. "Yeah, well he's been following Wufei around and being a jerk. Destroying his clothes and shit. He even cornered him after school, but Wufei managed to get away."

"Really? Wow... Didn't see that one coming..." They sat in silence. Hilde turned what she just been told over in her head, but she just could not fit it together with the sweet boy who was in her company just a couple of weeks ago. It didn't make any sense, Duo wasn't a bad guy, no he was like the definition of a nice guy who wouldn't hurt a fly. Something was wrong.

She gathered her things. "I'm going to go talk to him." She said with determination.

Wufei looked up for the first time since he had dropped his head down on the table. "No, Hilde come on, just leave it."

She waved him off. "I'm just going to talk to him." With that she hefted her multi-colored velvet bag over her shoulder and set her eyes on Duo.

"Hey, Duo!" She called when she got closer.

The rest of the basket players were leaving, but Duo, who was just getting to his feet, stopped and smiled at her.

"Hey...you...ehmm, sorry I don't remember your name. But don't take it so hard, I'm not very good with names." He smiled sheepishly.

"It's Hilde. I actually had a question for you." She said and ran a hand through her hair.

"Sure, go for it." He said with a smile.

"What do you have against Wufei?"

Duo suddenly looked very uncomfortable as he shifted from one foot to the other. "I don't have anything against him." He said as he glanced over towards to 'goth table.'

Hilde frowned."Yeah, well I've just been told that you have been following him around and harassing him… "

Duo gaped for a second before responding loudly. "No! That's not what I was doing."

"Then what?" She asked and crossed her arms.

"I just..." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

Hilde set her lips in a grim line and glared at the awkward looking boy. If it was one thing that she hated, it was people who didn't stand up for their own actions. It actually pissed her off more than what he had done. That he was trying to fit in with the cool people by bulling the ones who didn't fit the norm was cowardly, but trying to make himself look innocent was beyond that. She was tempted to just walk away and let Jason deal with him. But he was still Solo's little brother, so she was at least going to give him a warning.

"Yeah, well what ever it you think you're doing, you better stop it before Jason decides to defend Wufei by beating you up. He's very protective of his friends, and if he finds out that you are making Wufei uncomfortable and afraid there will be hell to pay."

There was a moment of silence and Hilde was just about to turn away when he whispered out a scratchy "Is...Is he sc- scared of me?" He sounded absolutely heartbroken and he quickly looked over in Wufei's direction.

For a second Hilde didn't know what to say. Duo looked like he was ready to start crying any second as he looked at her with big sad eyes. "Ehm, yeah, I think so." Hilde suddenly got the feeling that she was missing something big. The tall basket player who normally walked around with such self esteem was hunched over and was refusing to meet her eyes. Duo was looking down at his shaking hands as he started to stutter.

"I- I d- d- didn't m- me-mean t- t-to, I j- j-just... I g- g- got ssshy and wa- wan- wan- wanted to- to talk to hi- him. An- and when, when I- I, he k- k- kind of... di- didn't wan- want to- to t- talk to me.

"Duo?" Suddenly something clicked. It was so obvious that it was ridiculous that she had missed it. "Do you like Wufei or something?"

Like a deer caught in the highlights, Duo just stared at her for a second. He cleared his throat and whispered, "Or som- something... yeah." He then glanced over at the table where Wufei at the moment was glaring daggers at him.

He quickly looked down at the ground again and played nervously with the edge of his sleeve. "Co- could you, maybe te- tell him that I- I di- didn't mean to mmm ma-make him sc- scared or- or anything. I just-" Duo shrugged helplessly and Hilde could have sworn that she saw tears gathering in his eyes. "I just did- didn't know w- what to-to say. I'll st- stay away fr- from him fr-from now on..." He swallowed thickly and stuttered out "I- I got to- to go and, and- bye." before he hurried away with his shoulders hunched.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"That was great! What did you say to him?! It was awesome. Did you see how he just got smaller and smaller like he wanted to hide? It was-"

Hilde rubbed her forehead."Tiddy, not now."

"What? But it was so cool! Tiny art student vs big jock and-"

"Tiddy, shut up! This is not the time. Wufei, I've got to talk to you... alone."

Tiddy sighed and gathered her things."Right, I can take a hint. Later." She threw her Hello Kitty backpack over her shoulder and wandered off.

Hilde took a second too rub her temple. '_Fuck, this is a mess._' She thought and sat down on the chair in front of Wufei who was calmly scratching his nail polish off.

"So what did he say?" Wufei said with an air of indifference.

"He apologized."

It was obvious that he had been expecting her to say anything but that."...What?"

"Apparently he didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. He just wanted to talk to you."

Wufei blinked. "He wanted to talk to me? Well that sure as hell was a strange way to do it. Why didn't he just come up to me and do it?"

"Well, apparently he tried." She said with a sigh.

His face was blank for a second before realization kicked in. "...Oh shit! Oh no. Fuck."

"What?" She asked slowly like she knew that she wasn't going to like the answer.

"He did try, but I kind of kicked him in the balls."

"What?!" The blue haired girl screamed in outrage, making the people around them stop and stare over at their table.

"Well, I thought he was going jump me!" Wufei tried to defend himself. "I panicked, okay. He didn't tell you that?"

"No, he just told me that you hadn't wanted to talk to him."

"Oh, god." Wufei groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"Well, hold on because it gets worse."

Wufei whimpered out another "Oh god." He wrapped his arms around his head like he was trying to shut out reality of her words.

"The reason that he wanted to talk to you is that he has a huge, -huge- crush on you."

He raised his head and stared at her with horror. "Oh god... Shit... you're fucking with me right? No-no-no-no."

Hilde ignored his pleas. "The poor guy looked heartbroken when he found out that he scared you."

"I wasn't scare of him! Okay fine, just so a little bit. But how was I supposed to know? Did he say anything else?" He asked as he leaned towards her over the table.

"Just that he was sorry and that he was going to stay away from now on."

"..."

Hilde leaned her head against her hand. "I feel a bit of sorry for him. He looked so shy, and he was stuttering all the way through. It was kind of sweet how he was blushing and glancing over at you every five seconds."

Wufei sat back down again like a dead weight. "Hilde... did I just chase away a guy who was gay, hot and interested in me?"

"That you did. Not to mention nice, generous and caring, and that's only what I could tell, since I've only meet him a couple of times. I can't imagine how much more he would be to his boyfriend."

"Shit." Wufei whispered.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

A/N

Don't you just love Hilde right now? : )

That was all for now, the next chapter will be posted in a few days.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Wufei had seen Duo around a couple of times but it was obvious that the other boy was avoiding him like the plague. He was always in a hurry and didn't as much as glance in his direction.

At first, Wufei had been far too embarrassed over the whole thing to even think about talking to him, but as time passed, he found himself wondering what kind of person Duo was. He had to admit that he was curious. For god sakes, -the Creep- had a crush on him. No, not the creep. Duo. His name was Duo.

He wondered what the hell Duo saw in him. The basket player didn't look like someone who would be interested in someone like him, and Duo sure as hell didn't look like someone he would be interested in ether.

He was kind of hot in that I-do-sports kind of way that Wufei usually didn't go for at all. He seemed to wear pretty standard clothing. Nothing too flashy, nothing too trashy... kind of boring actually. The hair was in a pretty nice color; some kind of light brown tone that was cut in a typical modern, aka boring, hair cut. Nothing to write home about.

All in all, he was good looking, but not really his type. Far too normal.

Wufei looked at him from the corner of his eyes as he walked to class surrounded by his friends. But Duo did have a nice smile, big and wide that showed off all his perfectly straight white teeth.

_'He must have had braces_,' he thought as he saw him smile at something Yuy said. No one could be born with that kind of teeth. To make things worse, the whole guy was like a fucking Ken doll. No spots, no scars, no strange birthmarks and naturally curved eyebrows that Wufei found himself being more the a little jealous of, because he absolutely hated to pluck his own.

He was just so fucking normal that it was freaking him out. He had the right clothes, the right interests, the right friends, and he probably was going to end up driving the right car. For fuck sakes, the guy didn't even wear real shoes, instead he just wore his fashionable sneakers like all the guys that wanted to seem tough did. Never mind that they probably got frost bites on their toes, but they probably thought it was worth it to look cool.

Wufei just couldn't read those types. He had no idea what was going through their heads. You just couldn't tell if they were nice or not, but most likely they were not.

People who used their appearances to express their personalities were a lot easier to read. He didn't really care what label people put on themselves, but he felt a lot more at ease if they in some way expressed themselves. It didn't have to be much, it was enough if they had a pierced eyebrow, a band t-shirt, a bag with pins on it or something that could help you understand them.

Stereotypes might be annoying, but in a everyday situations they usually worked to your advantage.

Hip hoppers could give you a bit of trouble, but they mostly stayed out of your way if you stayed far out of theirs. Skaters could be a bit rude, but they very rarely bothered you, they were usually too busy doing their own thing. But if you got to know them, you would find most of them to be very laid back and friendly. Rockers were almost always nice, they could come off as a bit mean, but more often than not, it was just a front. Behind all that leather and studded jewelry, they were all just freaking sweethearts who most likely wouldn't hurt a fly. Goths, emos, punkers, greebos and whatever people wanted to call themselves all were usually nice people; most were just been unlucky to have been pushed around a bit too much, so that they didn't trust very easily. But when those gangs of popular people came along with all their clothes of the right brands and with their hair perfectly styled, you just had no idea what kind of persons were hiding behind the façade. It was a bit scary. Normal people scared him more than anything.

Wufei sighed. It didn't stop him from wondering though. Never before had he a guy who had been interested in him like this. He wondered what kind of things Duo liked to do, what his family was like, what kind of food he liked and if he had anything against hamsters.

He wondered if they had any shared interests. Probably not, but on the other hand, the only interest he knew that the other boy had was to bounce a orange ball around, something that Wufei wouldn't do even if he were to be paid for it. And there was no way that he was going to sit on the bleachers with the rest of the players' girlfriends while Duo played, that was for sure.

But there was no point thinking about it right now, he had a class to go to. He sighed once again as he started to walk towards the classroom, only to look up to see a couple of jocks coming his way. His eyes instantly landed on Duo.

Wufei was usually more then a little intimidated when one of those groups came towards him. But not this time. Because as the group just breezed by him like he was air, Duo looked over at him and gave him a tiny shy smile. Wufei suddenly felt a little tingle in his stomach. Maybe normal wasn't so bad after all.

After spending a couple of days thinking about it, Wufei decided approach him, something that turned out to be a lot harder then he first thought. There was no way that he was going anywhere near him while Brian was around, that went for the rest of his idiotic friends too. The blond guy that played the violin in the school band with him, Whiner–Winer–something, might not be violent, but he was so fucking annoyingly skittish that Wufei just wanted to sneak up behind him and hiss 'be afraid, be very afraid' or 'I want to suck your blood' to see if he could make him piss his pants. If Duo really was as nice as Hilde said he was, Wufei couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was doing hanging around with those pricks. Especially since it made it impossible to talk to him without having them around.

It was Friday, more then one week since the Creep had turned into Duo, that he got his chance. He was about to leave the school when he saw the taller boy walking alone further down the street. Wufei hurried his steps to catch up with him, happy that he had chosen his combat boots (that went very well to his baggy bondage pants) instead of his spiked pumps (that would have matched his silver top that he wore under his black fishnet perfectly). Duo looked startled as he saw Wufei fall into step with him.

Wufei smiled slightly. "Hi."

Duo stumbled to an abrupt stop and turned wide startled eyes down to him. "H- hey, ehm... hey." There a short silence where they just looked at each other. Wufei observing the taller boy with interest while Duo squirmed. It was kind of cute how nervous he was.

Duo glanced down on the ground where the tips of his sneakers were shuffling up a small pile of dirty snow around. "Ehm di- did you w- w-want som- m- something?"

Wufei shrugged. "Maybe, I'm not sure."

"Oh." Duo fidgeted for moment before starting to walk again. Wufei followed.

"Do you like hamsters?" Wufei asked, deciding to cut to the most important question.

Duo looked surprised, but didn't hesitate long before answering. "Ehmm, I-I ha- ha- had a fr- friend with a guin- guinea pig th- th- that I li- li-k- liked. That sh- should b- be more or le- less the s- s- s-ame th- thing, right?"

Wufei nodded. "Maybe, let's find out. Come on." He said and changed course to make a sharp right turn down a crossing street. For a second he almost though that the other boy wasn't going to follow him, but then he heard hurried steeps running to catch up to him.

Wufei played with the thought of actually having Duo as a boyfriend. He was tall enough, that was for sure. Wufei could probably wear his plateau high heals and Duo would still be noticeably taller. The ass was good, if not even great, that was something he already knew. He just wished that he would stop wearing those big basketball shirts so that he could figure out what kind of body was hiding underneath it. He didn't have very wide shoulders, that was a minus and the hair just had to go. He couldn't stand the I-want-to-give-the-impression-that-I-have-just-gotten-laid-when-I-really-have-spent-all-morning-styling-it look that Duo had. Maybe if he colored it? Or just shaved the whole thing off. Hilde could probably do something about it, he determined.

It wasn't far to his house, and it didn't take long before he lead his potential boyfriend up the snow covered front lawn. Inside, he kicked off his boots in the hallway and motioned for Duo to do the same. His mother called out from the kitchen, wondering how his day had been. He answered her with a distracted "fine" as he watched Duo toe his sneakers off. Duo had really big feet, and Wufei couldn't help but think about that saying about men with big feet.

He walked with his noticeably nervous follower right behind him up the stairs and in through his black painted door. Ignoring the clutter on the floor, he shrugged his coat off and motioned Duo to sit on the black mess that was his bed.

Albert was running in her wheel, but she happily jumped out to let herself be picked up. With the furry little animal in his hand he turned back to his guest. The tall basket player looked really out of place in the gloomy room with its Ann Rice theme. Duo was surrounded by the dark red velvet hanging around his bed and the black silk that he was sitting on. He kind of looked like a virgin sacrifice.

"This," he said, holding his hand out, "is Albert." One of those wide happy grins that Wufei had seen so many times at a distance spread across Duo's face as he looked at the just about hyper hamster which was sniffing the air with great interest.

"C- ca- can I p- pet it?"

"Sure, just watch the ears, she's a bit sensitive about them."

Duo nodded seriously before reaching out to carefully stroke a finger over the hamsters back. The animal gave the boy a quick look but didn't appear to be bothered by the attention.

Duo smiled. "Cute," he said as he bent down to be in eye level with her.

_'I know what else is cute._' Wufei thought to himself as he took a new grip around the furry little body. "Do you want to hold her?"

Duo hesitated but nodded. "S- sure."

Wufei carefully placed the hamster in the outstretched palms. The taller boy looked really nervous, especially when Albert decided to hang her head over the edge of his thumb during her exploration.

"Don't worry, she's not going to fall down. Just don't move around too much, and she'll be fine." He assured him.

The sound of a chainsaw massacre breaking out distracted him, and he walked over to the chair that he had draped his leather coat over. Searching through all the junk that he had in his pocket, he found his phone. "Tid, I'm a bit busy... I'll tell you later... no, later... no, I'll tell you later. Tiddy... no... no... NO! You wouldn't dare... no... I'll set your yaoi manga collection on fire if you do... Yeah, that serious. Bye." He hung up and turned back to the boy on his bed. A boy that for some reason was sitting stiff as a board with a look of panic on his face. And with empty palms.

"Where's Albert?" He asked, making sure not to let it sound like an accusation. The boy twitched. "Sh- sh- shirt," he stuttered.

Wufei blinked, and his eyes fell on the big sweater that Duo was wearing. The sleeves were pretty loose, and the material was perfect for climbing – for Albert it must be like a hamsters dream playground. Eying the sweater, he tried to locate any movement from the runaway rodent.

"Why didn't you just grab the furry bastard?" He asked.

"Di- di- din- didn't wa-want to hu-hurt him."

"Her," he mumbled as he saw a slight movement up close to Duo's shoulder.

Duo twitched violently, and he tightened the grip he had on the bed sheets.

"Relax, she's not going to bite you."

Duo shifted uncomfortably. "No, b- b- but it th- tickles." The movement was making its way towards the boy's armpit, and Duo squealed loudly before he hunched over and fell down on the bed. Wufei could only watch in amusement as Duo started to laugh, no, almost giggle while twisting around on top of his black silk sheets. Squirming as if invisible hands were tickling him.

But Wufei was pleased to note that through all his rolling around, Duo always made sure not to hurt the small hamster. The other boy was trying to gently corner the exploring animal with his hands but apparently Albert was having too much fun to let herself be captured. Instead she sidestepped Duo's hands and ran down his side.

"AHH!" Duo screamed before breaking out in a wild, uncontrollable laughter. Wufei could only watch as the boy who just a few days ago had scared him out of his mind was defeated by his palm-sized hamster.

Duo rolled, tossed and turned, and Wufei had a stray thought that the other boy looked really good against his black sheets. If only the circumstances were different.

Desperate hands were moving over his own chest, hunting for the small animal, and Wufei decided to take pity on him. "Come here, I'll get her," he said as he reached for the bump that for the moment was running wild over Duo's stomach. That proved to be harder then he first anticipated because Albert didn't seam to have any plans on getting captured, and anyone who has ever tried to catch a hamster that didn't want to be captured knew the hazard.

_'This is what happens when you don't wear tighter clothes._' He thought as he patted down Duo's front without getting a hold of the animal. Because every time he would catch up with her, he couldn't trap her through the sweater. Duo wasn't making it easier by twitching and squirming, not to mention the iron grip he had around his own middle.

"You are going to have to let go." Wufei told the giggling boy underneath him and pocked his arm.

"Noooooo! She'll run down my pants!" Duo laughed.

Wufei had all kinds of responses to that, but he settled for a "No, she won't" instead.

Duo shook his head from side to side while he chanted "no-no-no-no" between his laughter.

Wufei sighed.

Albert must have hit a really good spot because Duo rolled over on his back and made a sound like he was dying, something that made Wufei lose his footing. More than a little shocked, He tumbled down on top of the laughing boy. Since Albert didn't scream, he figure that he hadn't managed to hit her, but he still sat up quickly to be sure.

"Try to lie still," he urged him, but Duo did no such thing. "Oh for gods sake," Wufei growled as he straddled the taller boy's waist. Taking a hold of the back of the sweater, he pulled straight up. Duo, for the first time since he had gotten the hamster in his hands did something productive and lifted himself up enough to help.

"Got you, you little fucker." Wufei grinned as he held up the bag shaped sweater in the air. Albert chattered in protest, and Wufei looked down to share his victory with Duo, who for some reason was blushing violently. He looked further down and realized that not only was he straddling a half naked body, he was also sitting on something quite hard.

Duo was stuttering worse then ever and Wufei couldn't make out a single word he said.

Carefully putting the shirt down on the floor, he then sat back up. He hesitated before placing a hand down on the madras next to Duo's head and leaning down. Duo's eyes were wide and he was breathing far too fast where he was lying surrounded by the black silk. Wufei let his face hover there for a moment before carefully placing a kiss on slightly rough lips, hoping for a positive response. Half a heartbeat later, Duo's lips carefully moved against his own. Wufei had never kissed anyone before, and the only clues he could follow were those he had gotten from TV. Not the greatest guide, but it was better then nothing when chapped lips moved irregularly over each other. It was a bit awkward, their noses kept bumping, teeth clanked together, and it didn't take long before Wufei's back started to protest. He rearranged his legs before carefully laying down on top of the other boy. Under him, he felt Duo melt against the mattress.

Wufei couldn't resist all that warm naked skin underneath him, and he let his hands slowly roam over the exposed chest. '_Sports are good for somethin_g,' he thought happily as he petted a pretty develop six pack – for it to belong to a fifteen year old. The kissing got interrupted by a giggle like laughter as Wufei's hands traveled over Duo's waist, but they quickly got back on track as he learned where the sensitive spots were.

One of the metal buckles on his pants were digging in to his lower thighs and considering that he was almost two heads shorter then Duo that meant that the same buckles were probably pressing on a far more uncomfortable place on the taller boy. Not that Duo was complaining, but Wufei was pretty sure that he could do just about anything right now, and Duo wouldn't protest as long as he kept kissing him.

He felt a hesitating hand shyly move up his fishnet covered arm, to his shoulder where it stayed like a warm weight, almost like Duo didn't dare to move it. Wufei could feel it shaking against his skin; in fact he was pretty sure that if he hadn't been lying on top of him, then Duo's entire body would be shaking. Angling his head slightly to the side, he made sure to brush his cheek against Duo's hand in encouragement.

Careful fingers started to map out his neck, the back of his head, his jaw and up over his ear. They lingered on the four rings attached to the shell of his ear where they curiously explored before moving into his hair. Wufei sighed happily and pressed closer, something that Duo unfortunately did not appreciate as he flinched violently.

"Shit, sorry," Wufei apologised as he rolled off the other boy and lay down beside him, finally relieving Duo's crouch of the sharp metal buckle. "So," he said and raised his head up on his hand. "Do you want to go on a date with me?"

Duo rolled over on his side, so close that Wufei's entire body touched the other boy, who, with a grin, happily answered, "Yeah."

Wufei smiled in excitement and leaded forward to kiss him again.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Ahhhh, finally... was I the only one that felt that way? :)

Next chapter will be posted on Friday.

Please review. Come on, press the little button and make me happy. Please?


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Standing in front of his full body mirror, Wufei groaned in despair. He had tried out more or less every single piece of clothing that he owned and was now growing desperate. He didn't know what to wear; he wanted something that said 'I dressed up but I didn't put that much effort in to it.' He wanted to look hot but not desperate. He wanted to look beautiful, but he sure as hell didn't want to end up looking like a girl. He didn't want to scare Duo away by looking too much like a freak, but at the same time he didn't want to look too plain. Wufei quickly realized that he needed help.

Tiddy had totally blown up in his face when he told her who he was going on a date with. She thought that he had totally lost his mind and that he was going to end up dead in a ditch. He knew that she was just worried and that she would most likely apologizes later, but right now she wasn't going to lift a finger to help him. Hilde would help if he asked her, but if she got to choose he would probably end up in a pair of hot pants and nothing else. To make things worse, he didn't really feel comfortable calling any of his other friends because he didn't want to explain himself.

And one thing was for sure, he was not under any circumstances, going to ask his mother to help him dress for his first date.

There was only one person left to ask, but he dreaded it. Wufei knocked on the innocent-looking door. "Meilan?"

"What?" His sister hissed harshly from the other side, sounding quite unfriendly.

He swallowed his own angry response. "I need help."

There was a moment of silence before the door opened. "With what?" She asked suspiciously.

"I just want an opinion, I don't know what to wear."

Meilan rolled her eyes and leaned against the door frame. "God, vain much?"

"I am not vain," he muttered even though he knew that she might have a point.

"Yeah right, keep telling yourself that. Especially since you can't even pick your own clothes."

"Well, it's not just any day, I have a date in two hours and-"

Meilan cut him off with a surprised snort. "-You- are going on a date? Who would want to date you?" She laughed.

Wufei set his lips in a grim line, turned on his heal and walked away. Slamming and locking his bedroom door behind him, he set out to have himself a good old fashion sulk.

A couple of seconds later the sound of knocking was heard. "Come on, I'm sorry okay, open the door."

He wanted to be stubborn and refuse, but he did need help, so he unlocked the door and stepped back. Meilan let herself in and overlooked his entire wardrobe that was strewn across the room.

"So, who are you going on a date with, and where are you going?"

Wufei sighed. "Does it matter?"

Meilan gave him a look like she couldn't believe he had said that. "Of course it matters. Those are the most important things to know when you're picking clothes. So who is he?"

Wufei ran his tongue over his lip ring. Who was Duo? He realized that he really had no idea. "Ehmm, I don't actually know him," he mumbled. "He's kind of a friend of a friend."

"Well what do you know?"

"Ehmm, he's a basket player... I don't really know that much else."

Meilan snickered. "A basket player?"

Wufei glared, something that made Meilan snort. "Oh, relax, stop taking everything as a insult. I just thought it was funny since you know, basket players are usually pretty tall." The 'and you're not' was left unsaid.

Wufei sighed. "Yeah, ha ha, I'm going to look like a dwarf next to him, now are you going to help me or not?"

"Keep your panties on, right... hmmm, okay, do you know where you are going?"

"Umm, I was thinking that Italian restaurant in town, the small one down by the harbour."

"Didn't someone see a rat in there?" Meilan asked with distaste as she sorted through a bunch of t-shirts on his bed.

"That was when the last owner had it, it's a lot nicer now." Plus, that rat reputation kept most of the younger population away, so that they probably wouldn't run into anyone they knew... or more specifically, someone Duo knew.

"If you say so. He might think that you're a cheep date, though."

"Naw, he's new in town so he probably hasn't heard that rumour."

"You can always hope," she mumbled. "So, small cosy Italian place with a jock. Hmm." She started throwing clothes in different piles. She paused with a see-through grey t-shirt in one hand and a black mesh shirt in the other. "Do you want to get laid?"

Wufei choked on his own spit.

His sister rolled her eyes. "I was just asking. I'll take that as a no then." She said and threw the two shirts in the quickly growing pile by her feet.

When he got his breathing going again Wufei looked at what seemed to him a completely illogical organization of his clothes. He had no idea what she was looking for, but he hopped that she knew what she was doing.

"Perfect. Here, put these on," she said and handed him a bundle of clothes.

Wufei just looked at her, holding the pile to his chest.

She looked back.

Wufei flicked his head towards the door.

"Oh, for gods sake," Meilan mumbled and turned her back to him. "Is that good enough or do I actually have to leave the room, princess?"

Wufei ignored the taunting and started to undress.

"Whatever you do, don't order any spaghetti when you are there."

"But I like spaghetti," Wufei grumbled as he pulled on the tight black pants she had given him. The bondage pants were in a so-called junkie fit, which meant that they were so tight that he could very barely get the button fly closed. He carefully arranged the long straps that were hanging half way past his knees. It wouldn't do to trip on them during the date.

"I know. That's why I said it, because no one can eat it without making a mess. Avoid the garlic bread if you want to get any kissing done. Don't drink too much soda, you'll end up running to the bathroom every five minutes or even worse, start burping at the worst possible time."

"Is there anything I'm allowed to do?" He asked as he zipped up the tight, black sleeveless top and tried unsuccessfully to pull the edge of it down over the waist line of the low riding pants.

"You can laugh at all his jokes. Always act impressed when he starts talking about his sport. It doesn't matter if you think it's boring as hell, you just have to suck it up with a smile."

"I hate sports," Wufei mumbled. He fingered the belt he had been given. It was one of his favourites – it was in black leather with handcuffs in the front and bondage o-rings in the back. It fit snugly around his waist, and he was sure they would draw attention to the gap between his top and his pants. He quietly wondered if that was a good thing. "You don't think this will be a bit... much?"

"Can I turn around?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said as he closed the belt around his hip.

She stood back and eyed him up and down. "Why would it be too much? You look like this, if not worse, every day."

Wufei squirmed. "I know, it's just... I don't want to scare him away."

Meilan snorted. "He already knows the scores, so he's just going to have to take it. I mean, he asked you out while you were looking like this, didn't he?"

Wufei nodded. "Except for the point that I did the asking, then yeah."

"Are you serious, -you- asked -him- out?" She laughed.

"What?" He asked and frowned, more then a little annoyed.

"Nothing, I didn't know that you had it in you."

Wufei didn't know if he should be insulted or not. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, don't look at your watch. Make sure to regularly check your teeth for things that might have gotten stuck, but for god sakes, do it discreetly. If he's a gentleman, let him pull your chair out."

Wufei groaned. "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm actually not a girl."

Meilan snorted. "Whatever, now go and put on your make up, doll face, time is ticking"

With a sigh he did as he was told. There was no use arguing with her, not to mention that he did not have time for it.

Taking his make up bag with him he hurried in to the bathroom. He started off with his hair, making sure to spike it up to perfection. It wouldn't do to have hair falling out in strange places. As he worked, he started to feel more and more nervous. He tried to tell himself that he didn't care what anyone though about him and that he did not want to make himself as attractive as possible for his date. He didn't succeed very well.

Wufei looked closely at his own reflection. Maybe he shouldn't wear so much eye-liner on their date? Or maybe he should skip the mascara? Or should he use just a little bit of the mascara and not use any eye-shadow? Maybe he shouldn't put on any make up at all? He shook his head. No, this was who he was, and he wasn't going to change himself just because some guy was interested in him. He was going to follow Meilan's advice. Duo wanted to go out with him, not someone else, -him- and this was who he was and had always been.

Well, he hadn't been a goth his whole life, but it was pretty close. He had always been fascinated by the dark and the slightly scary stuff. By clothes that made people turn their heads and whisper. When he had been a kid, he had loved to run around in the dark, pretending that he was a vampire out looking for victims. His favourite room in the house had been the basement where he had made himself a little nest under the stairs. There in the dark, he had felt right at home, and nothing his mother said could make him take a flash light with him down there.

He had seen a few kids that dressed like they were in a horror movie while he was growing up and remember thinking how much wanted to be like them. But it took him years before he finally had the courage to actually dress the way he wanted.

At first he had ignored what he really wanted, pretending that he was just another fashion following teen who wanted nothing more than to hang around in the background and look up to the popular kids. It wasn't until Tiddy had been transferred to his class that his life started to take another turn. Her presence changed everything. She had been so loud and over the top in everything she did, from the way she dressed to the way she talked. She never backed down from anything, and she didn't give a shit about what everyone thought of her. She was like nothing he had ever seen before, and he could hardly take his eyes off her. At first he had thought that he had a crush on her until he realized that he was actually more attracted to her clothes than by her.

It was also thanks to Tiddy and her yaoi obsession that he had started to accept something that had always been hiding in the back of his mind. That girls might be pretty and nice, but boys... boys were something else. Something that put him on edge, something that called out to him. They just had something that made him -want- them.

He had been trying to fit in for years, more or less successfully, before he finally, with Tiddy's help, realized something.

That the only opinion that he should respect was not the one of his family and friends, it was his own. He had no obligations concerning his way of life to anyone but himself.

He might have disappointed some people, and he had lost a lot of friends on the way, but in the end, it had been worth it. There was no honor in pretending to be someone else. But to stand proud of who you are, regardless of what people thought, that was what it was all about.

"Aren't you done yet?" Meilan called out from the other side of the door.

Wufei gave his face a long look in the mirror. "Yeah." He had a little more make up on than he would during a normal day, but enough to be obscure. He thought he looked pretty good... he just hopped that Duo would think so too.

"Good, then come out here, we still have a lot of rules to go through before you're ready."

Wufei sighed.

"What do you think? Should I take the red one, or the blue one?" Duo asked as he held up the two almost identical shirts.

Solo shrugged as he chewed on his popcorn, his eyes not leaving the TV for a second.

"You are not helping!"

Solo calmly licked some salt off his lips. "So?"

"You should be helping!" Duo yelled, suppressing the urge to stomp his feet.

"Fine, I'll help. Did you bring the pepper spray?" The older brother asked as he rearranged his feet up on the coffee table.

Duo blinked. "What?"

Solo shrugged. "Well, it's not like he hasn't attacked you before."

"He's not going to attack me." He growled.

Solo gave him a 'poor naïve creature' look. "That is what everyone thinks. Then suddenly, things starts to get out of hand, he might get a little too enthusiastic with his hands and won't listen to you when you say no."

"He's not going to rape me!" Duo screamed in horror.'

Solo simply tilted his head to the side. "You'll never know. I still think you should take it."

"I'm not bringing pepper spray to our first date!"

"Fine, but just remember that no always means no, and if nothing else works, knee him in the crouch or go for the eyes."

"You are such an asshole."

"Yeah, yeah. Make sure that you have your cellphone with you in case something happens. You have me on speed dial don't you?"

Duo groaned with his hands over his face.

"Call any time if you want me to come get you, or if you want me to call and pretend that your poor old grandma has fallen down the stairs, and you just have to leave right away to help her." His brother said and took a new handful out of the plastic bowl in his lap.

"I hate you." Duo mumbled and pulled the red shirt on.

"Of course you do." Solo responded with his popcorn filled mouth, making white pieces fly all over his worn t-shirt

Duo grumbled as he closed all the small buttons.

"So, where are you going to meet him?" Solo said nonchalant.

Duo glared. "I'm not telling you, god knows what you would do."

Solo grinned with pieces of popcorn stuck between his teeth. "I could just follow you."

"That would be too creepy, even for you."

"Well, that's what you think."

He knew that his brother wouldn't, but one could never be too sure with Solo. "I'll make your life hell if you do."

Solo snickered.

Duo ignored him and ran his hands down his chest. "Do I look okay?"

Solo gave the black ironed pants and the red shirt a look. "You look like a vampire," he said and licked his greasy fingers.

Duo changed into the light blue shirt. "How about now?"

"Now you look like you want to go over your homework with him. Why can't you just wear a t-shirt or something?"

"Because I want to look nice, that's why." Duo grumbled and took the shirt off again.

"You could still look nice with a t-shirt." Solo argued.

"Not nice enough."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you going on a date with someone who usually wears dresses and trashy goth clothes?"

"He does not look trashy!" Was Duo's outraged protest. "He looks elegant and beautiful."

"Right, my mistake," Solo mumbled and pushed one of his dreads behind his ear.

"Maybe I should take the white on instead?

Solo groaned. "Oh, for gods sake. Take the blue jeans with the yellow stitches in the back, I washed them yesterday, so they are clean. Wear the long sleeved t-shirt with the dripping graffiti print that you like so much."

Duo hesitated. "You don't think it will look a bit cheap?"

Solo rolled his eyes. "I swear, it will be perfect."

"Okay." He said as he ran off to put them on, more then a little happy to have the decision out of his hands.

Solo turned his attention back to the television just in time to say 'yippie-ki-yay motherfucker' in sync with Bruce Willis. With a content smile, he watched as McClane kicked ass like only a true action hero could. By the time the credits started to roll, Solo looked down on his wrist watch. "Hey Duo, shouldn't you leave soon?" There was a moment of complete silence before a horrified "Shit!" came from Duo's bedroom. A second later the stressed teenager came running through the living room.

Solo leaned his head backwards so that he could watch his brother push his feet in to his sneakers. "And remember, eyes, throat and crouch are the spots to go for."

"Solo!"

Solo shook his head. "I'll stop, but seriously though, be careful, D. There are a lot of creeps out there."

Duo smiled slightly as he shrugged on his jacket. "Okay, thanks. Got to go." He called over his shoulder before turning towards the door.

"When are you going to get back?"

"Don't know, late. Don't wait up." Was the rushed response before the sound of a slamming door echoed through the apartment.

Solo sighed as he scratched his knee through his patchy cotton pants. "I sound like someone's nagging mother," he mumbled to himself. "I need to get out more."

He briefly thought about going to bed. Solo snorted. Who was he trying to fool? He wasn't going to bed until he knew that Duo was safe in his bed.

Picking up the remote control he flipped between the channels until until he found an old Rambo movie."God, the 80's were the greatest." He grinned as he sank a little further down into the couch.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei was so nervous when they arrived at the restaurant – so much that he didn't know if he was going to survive the night. The thousands of advice that Meilan had given him all buzzed around in his head, making him question every move he made. Everything from how he shouldn't have opened the door – but since he was closest he had done it anyway, to how he should be smiling pleasantly – but was too nervous to do so. But when the first thing Duo did was to bite into the garlic bread with an 'I love these' and a smile, Wufei decided to throw all the advice to hell and just go with the flow.

His first act of rebellion was to order his spaghetti, and he was pleased when Duo did the same. Apparently he wasn't the only one who loved a slobbery mess of tomatoes and other delicious sticky things.

The waiter walked away with their orders, leaving then in a strained silence. Deciding that small talk was the way to go, Wufei made an attempt to start up a conversation. "So... you just moved here?"

Duo startled and almost knocked his glass over. "Y-yeah, ab- abo- about a m- month ago."

"Do you like it?"

Duo hesitated. "Some- some t- t-things I h- hate, wh- while s- some- some th- things make it m- more b- b- bearable." He said and gave him a small smile that told Wufei that he was indeed one of the things that made things bearable.

A small warm feeling squirmed in his chest. "Oh"

"W- what ab- about y- y- you?"

"Me? Oh, I've lived here all my life," Wufei replied as he played with his knife, twirling it around his fingers.

"Th- th- that's n- n- n- ni- nice." Duo looked really annoyed with his own stutter, while Wufei was starting to wonder if he, himself, had some kind of brain damage since he suddenly thought stuttering was the cutest thing ever.

It was just too bad that he didn't have any idea what he should be saying. For god's sake, he was on a -date- with the guy who he had treated like shit since they met. What could he possibly say that wouldn't make him sound like an idiot?

Wufei sighed and put his elbows up on the table. "We didn't really start off all that well, did we?"

Duo shook his head. "The f- f- fi- first m-m- meet- meeting was f- f- fine."

Wufei snorted. "Are you masochistic or something? If I remember correctly, I called you a fucking asshole the first time me meet."

"W- w-we m- m- m-eet bef- fore t- th- that." Duo said with a grin.

Wufei blinked. "We did? When?"

"A- ar-around Ch- christm- mas, I slipped on t- t-the s- s- side w- walk, and y- y- you he-helped m- m- me up."

Wufei thought for a second before laughing. "That was you?"

Duo nodded, clearly embarrassed.

"Huh, I guess you look older when you're flat on your ass in the snow."

Duo smiled.

Things got easier from there as they both started to relax and focus on getting to know each other.

Wufei could hardly believe how nice Duo actually was. He could almost not compare "the creep" with Duo, because one scared him out of his mind, and the other was making him laugh so hard, he almost snorted cola out of his nose. But one was just a figment of his imagination, while the other... the other was someone that he wanted to learn more about.

They talked about a little bit of everything. Duo told him about his old home town and how he now lived with his older brother while Wufei told him about his family and friends. Wufei realized that somewhere through their date, Duo had stopped stuttering. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had been nervous.

When they were done, he managed to convince Duo that since he was the one who asked Duo out, he was the one who got to be "the guy" and pay for the food. Duo pouted but "restored his masculinity", as he called, it by helping Wufei with his coat and opening the door. It was obvious that this was new for the both of them, but if TV taught them anything about dating then it was time for them to watch a movie. Quietly, they walked side by side towards the cinema.

It was growing dark and soft light snowflakes were falling slowly towards the ground.

Duo played awkwardly with the sleeve of his puffy black jacket. "Wufei?" he said, breaking the silence.

Wufei looked over and up at the other boy. "Yeah?"

"I'm really sorry about spilling milk on your dress, you know. I didn't do it on purpose." The last part was almost whispered into the collar of his jacket.

Wufei nodded. "I kind of figured." The whole thing with the milk had happened so fast, there had been no time to really see if it was on purpose or not. He had just assumed that it was. But now that he had started knowing Duo a little, or even a lot better, he had no doubt that it really was nothing more than a stupid accident. It felt good to know.

"You haven't worn it since then, I didn't destroy it did I?" Duo asked worriedly.

Wufei shook his head. "No, it's at the dry cleaner."

Duo flinched. "Sorry, I'll pay for it."

"Don't worry about it. Mom took care of it for me." She had been about as heartbroken over the whole thing as he had.

Duo looked like he wanted to argue, but he nodded his head. "Okay... I'm really happy that I didn't ruin it. It was really nice."

"What, do you have a fetish for guys who look like girls or something?" Wufei couldn't help but ask.

Duo stumbled on air and almost fell head first to the ground as he blushed. "N- n- no, I- I jus- just t- th- think you lo- lo- look n- n- ni- ice." He swallowed thickly as he stared at his feet. "And I- I don- don't think you lo- loo- look li- li- like a g- gi- girl."

Wufei tried to suppress a pleased smile. "Oh?"

Duo shook his head with his blush still burning all over his face. Very pleased with how things were going so far, Wufei laced their fingers together.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

Wufei had been so sure that Duo would want to see one of the action movies, or at least, one of the scary movies, but unfortunately, that was not the case. He guessed that his prejudicial view of how Duo should be had fouled him once again, because Duo's eyes had zoomed in on a big, colorful cardboard animal as soon as they came through the door.

"Can we watch this one?" Duo asked as he pulled Wufei over to the sign.

Wufei looked at the animated animals with what he hoped was a natural face. The Pixar movie was probably the last thing he would have chosen.

"Please?" Duo begged when Wufei hesitated.

He could probably survive it. He just hoped that they wouldn't sing. Dear God, he hoped that they wouldn't sing. "Yeah, sure," he heard himself say, making Duo grin and pull him along over to the ticket line. There were a lot of people there, but no one seemed to give their joined hands much attention. One or two people gave his hair a look of disbelief, but that always happened when he spiked his long hair so it looked like it defied the laws of gravity.

He suddenly felt Duo go stiff next to him. Wufei looked up at the other's drawn face in surprise. He saw Duo looking over towards the entrance door before quickly, too quickly, looking away to fasten his eyes on a random movie poster.

Curiously, Wufei looked over at the door. It wasn't hard to figure out what had caused Duo's behavior, because over by the entrance was the girl that he immediately identified as Heero Yuy's girlfriend. And she was looking right back at him with her eyes wide.

Wufei glanced down on their joined hands.

He had expected Duo to pretend not to know him, or at least let go of his hand if they ran into someone from school, but apparently that was not the case. Duo still had a slightly sweaty, but tight grip around his hand. Duo might have looked a bit uncomfortable, but he didn't even once make any moves to let go of his hand.

Wufei glanced over at the girl again and realized that she shouldn't be able to see their joined hands from over there. Not with his coat open. She must have just been surprised to see them there together, since it was a pretty known fact that her boyfriend and his friends liked to make Wufei's life hell.

He discreetly tugged his hand, but Duo wouldn't let go. "It's okay. She doesn't know yet, she can't see our hands. You can just tell her that we are friends." Wufei whispered as he once again tried to pull his hand free.

Duo looked pale, but he had a stubborn look in his eyes. "I don't want to hide it. I hate lying more then anything... you don't mind... do you?" Duo turned pleading eyes down at him, and Wufei shook his head, feeling a bit dazzled.

"Thank you." The taller boy said softly before it was his turn to step up to the register.

This was big, Wufei realized. This was Duo's first steps out of the closet, and he had no idea what to do to help. Wufei never really "came out", since people started calling him faggot long before he actually figure out that they just might have a point. But Duo was a completely different story. He wondered if any of Duo's popular friends would want to stay friends with him or if they would all turn their backs on him. Wufei absently accepted his ticket and shook his head at the offer of popcorn. He hoped that Duo wouldn't end up regretting his action.

Duo, who had dropped his hand to pay for the tickets, once again lazed their fingers together before leading Wufei away. The tall boy gave the girl a strained smile and a nod in greeting as they walked past her. As soon as their backs were turned, they could hear the girls start to whisper, and Wufei just knew that this would be out over the whole school by Monday.

Wufei stroke Duo's hand with his thumb. "Are you okay?"

Duo sighed. "I guess. I'm just not looking forward to the next basket practice."

Wufei nodded, remembering his own experience with homophobes and changing rooms. He held Duo's hand a little tighter in sympathy.

One good thing with going to an animated movie was that the rest of the audience were mostly children. This meant that hardly anyone was tall enough to be in Wufei's way and that the seats in the back were empty. Wufei lead Duo up in the back and pulled him down next to him. It was a bit awkward to still hold hands while they were sitting, and they reluctantly let go. They pilled their winter clothes on the empty seats on either side of them before settling back in a some what comfortable silence.

Wufei looked over at his date with a frown. "Why do you keep doing that?"

Duo blinked. "What?"

"That." Wufei said and pointed at Duo's fingers that had a tight grip on the hair in the back of his neck. He had noticed this behavior when he had taken him to meet Albert and then again during the dinner.

"Oh, ehm. Nervous habit. It's just that I used to have longer hair that I would play with, but now I just do this instead." Duo smiled awkwardly and pulled his hair.

"I'm trying to stop, but half the time, I'm not even aware that I' doing it."

He gave Duo's hair a look. "I can't really imagine you with long hair."

Duo ran a hand through his short bangs. "No?"

Wufei shook his head. "So how long was it?"

Duo looked embarrassed. "Long."

Wufei looked at the other boy with curiosity. "How long?"

"Ehm, pretty much down past my ass."

Wufei blinked and his mouth fell open. "Really?"

Duo couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah."

"Do you have any photos?"

"Probably, why?"

"What do you mean 'why'?! Give me, give me, give me." Wufei demanded in a childish tone.

Duo laughed. "I don't have any with me now. But-" he cut himself off as the lights went out, and the screen started showing dancing birds from the latest Disney movie. "I'll show them to you later." He said in a lowered voice.

Wufei nodded and leaned back to comfortably let his brain get slaughtered by the stupidity of animated junk. The things he did for this boy, but somehow he knew that this was only the beginning. He looked over at the taller boy who gave him a big happy grin, and Wufei's stomach flip flopped. God help him, he was so screwed. This boy was going to end up leading him around by the nose. The scary part was that he couldn't find the will to care.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

After the movie, they strolled down the street. Duo looked over at the beautiful boy next to him in wonder. He could hardly believe that Wufei was actually there with him. After all the misunderstandings and all the shit that happened on the way, it was a miracle that they made it this far.

"There is just one thing that I have been wondering about," Duo said, breaking the silence.

Wufei brushed some snowflakes away from the arms of his long elegant coat. "What's that?"

"I was told this rumor about you..."

Wufei laughed. "Wait, let me guess, if I flashed the math teacher?"

Duo blinked. "Ehm, no actually."

Wufei thought for a second. "Hmm, the Satanist thing?"

"No."

"The drug thing?"

Duo shook his head. "No."

"The time Tiddy and I raped the school mascot?"

"No... wait, what?" Duo questioned with wide eyes.

Wufei grinned. "Yeah, that one was really big last year."

Duo stared. "But... isn't the school mascot a shark?"

"Yeah."

"But... how?"

"How one rapes a shark swimming around in a huge aquarium? I have no idea."

"... People are stupid."

Wufei laughed and flipped his collar up over his neck to protect it against the freezing wind. "Yeah, totally, so what rumor were you talking about?"

"There was this one rumor about how your bag always moved when you came out of the pet store."

Wufei frowned. "Moved? I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? I've been wondering about that for ages," Duo complained.

"Sorry, can't help you. I go in there every two weeks or so to get sawdust and food but nothing that moves."

"Aw man, I really wanted to know what was moving. I kind of thought that you were bringing Albert to the store or something."

"No way, I would lose her before I even arrived. Damn hyperactive rodent."

Duo smiled. "Why is your Hamster named Albert by the way?"

Wufei snickered. "That is kind of a funny story. I got her from a friend who owns her mother. My friend- Trowa by the way, you know the tall guy with the hair over the side of his face."

Duo nodded. "He's kind of hard to miss."

"Yeah, well anyway. Trowa told me that it was a girl, so I named her Victoria Everglot. You know, from the corpse bride."

Duo gave him an empty look.

"The animated gothic movie that came out a few years ago." Wufei explained.

Duo only looked confused.

"...The same creator as to Nightmare before Christmas."

Duo thought for a second. "Was that the horror movie where the guy had knives on his fingers? I don't really know, because I haven't seen it."

Wufei suppressed a sigh. You really could not expect to get everything you wanted out of your first boyfriend and apparently, good movies were something that Duo didn't know. "No, that's 'A Nightmare on Elm street'. He made Sleepy Hollow and... Edward Scissorhands." Duo still looked at him with eyes that just screamed that he had no idea what he was talking about. Wufei rubbed his face. "He also did a couple of batman movies."

Duo shone up in recognition. "Oh, the strange guy with the beret."

Wufei, at this point really didn't care if they were talking about the same person, he just wanted to get on with the story. He made a mental note to force Duo to watch some quality movies at a later date. No boyfriend of his was going to miss out on Tim Burton's fantastic world of gothic darkness.

"Yes, well anyway. So I named her Victoria Everglot and everything was fine until I took her along to meet a couple of other hamsters."

"Then what happened?"

Wufei snorted. "To put it lightly, she started to hump them. Male, female, it didn't matter she nailed every single one of them."

Duo tipped his head back and laughed.

"So, I just assumed that Trowa had gotten it wrong so I re-named her Albert." Wufei took a second to enjoy Duo's laughter before he continued. "Then when I took her to the veterinarian, he told me that she was female."

"So you didn't bother to rename her?"

"No, I just assumed that she was having a identity crisis or maybe that she was transsexual. You can never be too sure when it comes to hamsters, so I just kept calling her Albert."

Duo snickered. "Albert the transsexual hamster, that's great."

They smiled and walked just a little bit closer to each other. The evening air was pleasantly cool in a way that Duo never had been able to appreciate before he moved here. He looked down on the gothic boy, who unknowingly had small piles of snow on top of some of the spikes in his hair. It looked totally insane, and really adorable.

"So, how are you going to handle school on Monday?" Wufei asked suddenly, totally changing the mood of the conversation.

Duo sighed. "I don't really know. I'll just see how it goes and hope for the best. I mean, some people are just mean on purpose, like they can't help but make people's lives hell. God knows that I've run into one or two in my life." Duo looked really sad, and Wufei just knew that he had to say something about his own part in making Duo's life less then ideal. "I'm sorry for kicking you in... you know."

Duo smiled slightly. "Don't worry about it, it was kind of stupid of me to ambush you after school anyway. Hilde kind of explained it to me. You were just defending yourself."

Wufei awkwardly scratched off some nail polish from him thumb. Well that was one down, now there was just one to go. Too bad that he couldn't claim self-defence on the second one. "Thanks... well... I kind of have a confession to make."

Duo turned towards him with questioning look. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah..." He raised his head so that he could look Duo in the eye. He refused to be a coward and look away. "You were at the mall and there was this soda..." By the betrayed look on Duo's face, he didn't need to go on.

"T-that w-was you?" Duo asked in a heartbreakingly sad voice.

Wufei's heart sank. Duo was stuttering again, and Wufei felt like an absolute bastard. He wanted to go back in time and kick his own ass for making Duo look like this. "Yeah, I'm really, really sorry." Duo shrugged. "It's okay." He said softly even if it was obvious that it wasn't and that his action really had hurt him.

His words only made Wufei feel worse, and he desperately wanted to know what he could do to make Duo smile again. He stopped and wrapped his arms around Duo's waist. "It's not, but I am really sorry, I'll make it up to you, I swear."

It took a second, but soon two arms wrapped themselves around his back. "I did pour milk on you." Duo pointed out.

"But you didn't do it on purpose." He protested in to the puffy jacket and hugged him a little closer.

He felt Duo take a deep breath into his hair before he responded. "Give me a kiss, and I'll forgive you."

Wufei smiled. "That I can do." He tipped his face upwards, and Duo leaned down towards him. They meet in a slow comfortable kiss that went on and on. For a second it was perfect, just like in the movies. But then reality kicked in.

"Damn it." Wufei grumbled against Duo's lips.

Duo pulled away slightly to look him in the face. "What?"

"I strained my neck. I knew I should have worn something with high heals, so I wouldn't be so damn short." He grumbled and rubbed his aching muscles.

"Oh... but wouldn't it be hard to walk in heals, especially with the snow and all?"

Wufei tipped his head from side to side to loosen up his neck. "You get used to it, and the extra height makes up for the pain."

Duo blinked. "Pain? It hurts to walk in heals? There has to be other ways that doesn't hurt," Duo reasoned.

"Well, there are other ways when it comes to kissing, you just have to think outside the box." Wufei leered and put a hand up against his chest and pushed him back. With stumbling steps, Duo walked backwards with his eyes stuck on Wufei's smirking lip.

"Lean back." Wufei told him with one last push to his chest. Without much choice, Duo fell back against the cold brick wall. Heavy leather boots kicked his feet wide apart before Wufei pressed himself against Duo's chest. With the little extra height Wufei got from his thick rubber soles, a pile of snow and with Duo's legs out as wide as they would go in his tight jeans, they were in perfect height.

"See? No problems at all," Wufei whispered before kissing him.

Duo's eyes fell close as their lips moved against each other. He hesitated for just a second, then he let his hands travel over the coat-covered chest in front of him before wrapping his arms around the other boy. Wufei had a hand on the back of his head that was holding him steady, but at the same time, protecting him from the rough surface of the brick wall. The other hand rested on the small of his back, too low to be really decent, but too high up to really be resting on his ass. The feeling of that hand made Duo a little dizzy with the thoughts of what he wanted to do with the other boy.

A sharp sound from a passing car startled Duo, and his legs slipped just a little bit too widely, making him desperately try to make to pain in his thighs stop. He was not all that flexible, and having his legs this wide made him fear for some parts of his body. He fell forward, taking a surprised Wufei with him. Together they landed on the dirty snow covered ground.

"Are you okay?" Duo asked anxiously as he quickly got off of Wufei and up on his feet.

Wufei nodded with a smile, he looked more amused then anything else. Duo leaned over to offer him his hand, but he never got that far as someone grabbed a hold of him from the back and slammed into the brick wall. A large leather clove covered hand wrapped itself around his throat, almost cutting of his air intact. Duo had a quick desperate thought to the pepper spray that Solo had wanted him to take.

Then he saw who was holding him. 'Shit, I'm going to die,' Duo thought as he looked into the furious eyes of the psycho killer. He had known that this day would come, and now that it was here, he was scared to death.

"Jason! Get the fuck off him now!" He heard Wufei's angry voice demand.

The huge rocker blinked and looked over at the outraged Wufei who was climbing to his feet.

"What?"

"You heard me, now let him go before you really piss me off!"

The psycho killer, or Jason as he apparently was named, let him go, and Duo quickly hurried over to Wufei so that he could hide behind him.

The muscular boy looked puzzled. "Ehm, Wufei, since when are you friendly with the creep?"

"He's my boyfriend!" Wufei growled.

Jason's jaw dropped. "What? Since when?"

"Since now. Now go away." The shorter boy ordered and flicked his hand like he was chasing away a irritating fly.

"But-"

"Now Jason."

"But-"

"I'll call you later, now go away, so I can go back to making out with my date."

Looking more then a little shell shocked, Jason did as he was told.

"Are you okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" Wufei asked as he straightened Duo's jacket and petted this throat with slightly chilled fingertips.

Duo shook his head with a tight grip on Wufei's coat. "No, he´s... he´s just a bit scary."

Wufei smiled. "It's just a front, he's a total bundle of fluff, trust me."

Duo wasn't convinced, but he had more important things to focus on. "Oh... ehmm so, I'm your boyfriend now?"

Wufei looked embarrassed. "Well yeah... if you want to."

Duo grinned. "I'd love to," he answered half a second before he was rewarded with a kiss.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

There was a moment of awkward silence as they stood outside Duo's apartment building. It was late, but Duo didn't really want to part from the other boy just yet.

Duo lit up as he remembered something. "So, did you want to see those photos?"

Wufei grinned. "Yeah."

"Come on then." He said as he unlocked the door and held it open to him. Three stairs later, Duo unlocked the door to the small apartment. Solo was asleep in front of the television, and they walked carefully past the couch and into Duo's bedroom.

"Sorry, it's a bit of a mess. I'm going to get some furniture soon but..." He shrugged, a bit embarrassed by his bare room. There was a bed, an over-filled bookshelf, a chair, a pile of used clothes and boxes. A lot of boxes. The walls were naked except for a couple of NBA posters and a few photographs hanging over his bed. He really had not thought about the status of his room when he had invited Wufei in. But what was done was done, they were here now.

Duo put a knee up on his bed and leaned over to take down one of the photos that were needled to the wall. It was taken the year before, just after a game his team won. On one shoulder was a friend's arm draped, while the other had his long thick braid hanging over it.

Wufei stared at the photo with wide eyes before turning to Duo.

"You are re-growing your hair." The Gothic boy ordered.

Duo blinked. "I am?"

Wufei set his lips in a stubborn line. "Yes, you are. No protests."

Duo shrugged with a smile. "Okay, I kind of miss it, anyway."

Wufei ginned. "Good," he said before pulling Duo down for a kiss. Duo led them backwards until they hit the side of the bed. He let himself be pressed down on his bed with Wufei lying on top of him. Feeling brave, he let his hands travel over Wufei's naked arms, over his back, lingering on the slip of skin above the tight pants before finally treating himself with a careful grope of one very nice ass. Wufei didn't seem to mind, he just pushed his hands in under Duo's t-shirt.

After kissing for what felt like forever, they rested side by side on Duo's narrow bed. Wufei was petting his cheek in long soothing motions. "I should go."

Duo groaned in protest.

"It's late, and my dad has probably called the cops by now."

Duo laughed. "Seriously?"

"Yeah maybe, if Meilan didn't manage to talk him out if it."

Duo sighed unhappily into his boyfriends shoulder.

Wufei got to his feet, and Duo whined over the loss of heating.

His boyfriend suddenly stopped and bent down to pick something off the floor. Duo froze in terror when he saw the large wrinkled ball of paper in Wufei's hand.

Throwing himself up, he snatched it out off Wufei's hand.

"Hey!" Wufei protested but Duo curled up on his stomach with the papers hidden underneath him.

Wufei pouted. "It had my name on it."

Duo blushed. "I know, that's why you're not reading it."

"Please? I wanna know what it is."

"No." Duo mumbled and hid his burning face in the bed cover.

"Please?" Wufei's voice begged close to his ear. "Please?" A kiss landed on his jaw. "Please?" Another kiss on the back of his neck. "Please?"

Duo knew he was defeated and rolled over on his side, so he could look at the boy sitting on the edge of his bed. "It's just embarrassing... I kind of wrote you some letters." He mumbled, feeling slightly terrified when Wufei looked even more interested. "They are kind of... love letters." He whispered softly.

"You wrote me love letters?" Wufei asked in awe. "Can I read them?"

Duo groaned. "If you have to. They are not all that good, some are even plain stupid."

"I don't care."

Duo sighed and handed the ball over to Wufei. "But please, don't read them when I'm anywhere near you, or I'm going to die of embarrassment."

"Deal." Wufei said as he hugged the ball to his chest.

Duo walked him to the door. They were both very aware of the man sleeping on the other side of the room as they awkwardly stood next to each other. It was obvious that Wufei didn't want to leave, but that he knew that he had to. The Asian sighed. "I'll see you later. Bye."

Duo got one last kiss before the Gothic boy turned and walked away. Duo watched him until the dark shape was out of sight, only then did he close the front door.

He put a blanket over his brother before quietly slipping into his room and threw himself on top of his bed. Duo muffled his happy whoop in to his pillow before rolling over on his back, hugging the pillow tightly to his chest. It felt like his face was going to split from his wide smile. One could just not be happier then this.

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Wufei looked up at the window where he knew his boyfriend was.

His fingers caressed the bundle of papers in his pocket. He couldn't wait to get home. He had some bedtime reading to do. With one last look at the lit room, he turned to walk home.

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The End...

This is the end that I had in mind. I consider this story to be done now.

But, (Yes, there is a but) I got a mail from Illy-chan who started of by flattering me until she had me wrapped so tightly around her finger that I couldn't see straight, then she told me to write more. So I'm going to write more (let this be a lesson to you all, I am nothing if not easy. I recommend nagging. Nagging usually works wonders on me. Just ask Aniratac, lol).

Damn, I'm going to have to start up a poll to see what fiction you rather want me to update because I just don't have any idea where to start. I don't really think that many people care, but those that do will have a chance to give their opinion.

That was all for now. (Next to be updated is "Isn't life a kick in the crouch" and "Frozen.")

Please, please, please, please, please pleeeeeeease, pretty please take a few seconds to give me a review. Just a short little thing will make me more happy then you can imagine.

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